Sun Showers
by TogetherWeCanFly
Summary: His life is miserable and lonely. He is misunderstood by everyone around him. But she is different. She sees beauty and hope in everything. Even him. Modern day AU. Four/Tris.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi people!** **So I've had this idea for awhile, but I wasn't sure how good it would be. But you never know if you never try, right? So here's my new story! I'm not sure yet if it'll just be a oneshot or if I'll continue it- I guess that depends on the reaction to it.**

 **So anyway, I hope you guys like it. Please let me know what you think! :)**

* * *

 **Tobias POV**

* * *

Everybody said that I should be happy that my father is in jail. For obvious reasons, I am anything but happy. In fact, it is that surliness that earned me a new name. My foster parent, Amar calls me Four because it took four days for me to actually speak to him. Still, as he likes to point out, I have yet to smile in his presence. Or at all.

I have never been one to smile much, after all. Even growing up, I never smiled very much. My mother would often try to get me to smile. She would smile at me, but even as a child, I could tell that it was always fake. I could always see the sadness, the desperation, behind it. I knew that it was meant to comfort me, but it only frightened me. And as I grew up, it only made my resentment toward my father grow.

"How has school been going?" I turn around and see Amar standing in the doorway of my new room with his arms crossed over his chest. I simply shrug my shoulders in response. "Does Eric sit with you at lunch?"

I have to hold back the urge to roll my eyes at this. My foster brother, Eric, is willing to do a lot of things, and sitting with me at lunch is not one of them. Ever since I moved in, he has made it clear that he does not want me here whether it is subtle insults or not-so-subtle pushing and shoving when I happen to walk too close to him. He seems to have figured out that I will not push him back.

Of course, I am sure that I could beat him in a fight. I managed to gain a good amount of muscle when I did wrestling in my last school. But I know that I could never bring myself to fight him. I would be too afraid. Too afraid of turning into my father.

"He does," I mutter. "We make each other friendship bracelets every day, too."

"You know, I could talk to him." I shoot him a look. "But I have a feeling you wouldn't want that."

"No," I answer quickly.

"If you change your mind, let me know." He sighs. "And Four, I know you don't believe me, but it might help you to make friends."

"Noted," I mutter.

"Right." He smiles a bit and shakes his head. "Goodnight, Four."

I do not respond, as Amar walks away, most likely to his own room. I close the door behind him so that Eric will be less inclined to bother me. Once that is done, I change my clothes quickly just in case Eric decides to barge in. My scars are the last things I want him to see. Luckily, he does not even try to come in, so I go to bed.

When I wake up, I cannot help but feel a little grateful that I managed to get through the night without any nightmares. Until I remember that it does not really matter much, since this day will most likely be a nightmare anyway.

I force myself out of bed and change my clothes before picking up my backpack and trudging downstairs. Luckily, Eric usually wakes up and gets ready for school with just minutes to spare, so I do not have to worry about him in the morning. When I get downstairs, my foster sister, Lauren is sitting at the kitchen table.

Luckily, Lauren and I get along rather well, but we both tend to stay to ourselves. Even in school, we are usually alone. The only difference is that Lauren does not get picked on as much. Most people tend to just leave her alone.

"Muffin?" she asks, as I approach the kitchen table. "Amar bought some blueberry ones."

I shrug my shoulders, and she opens up the pack and takes one out for me. I nod my head at her, as she hands it to me.

"Thanks," I say. "I think I'm gonna get going now."

"To school?" she asks.

"Yeah, why?"

"I guess I don't understand." She shrugs. "You would rather go to school an hour early every day than stand up to him."

"He's not exactly something I want to deal with first thing in the morning," I mutter. "Besides, I'm not here for much longer anyway."

"Two years is a long time to avoid someone that lives down the hall from you," she says.

"Thanks for the tip," I cut in. "But I'll be fine."

She looks at me for a moment, a hint of sympathy in her eyes, before she shrugs her shoulders and returns her attention to the muffin in her hands.

"Good luck today," she says.

I do not bother to respond, as I head for the front door. The walk to the school is fairly short. Luckily, there are not many other people coming in this early, so I do not have to worry about running into one of the many people that love to make fun of me simply for existing. This time before school is the only time that I feel at peace, when nobody is around.

Unfortunately, it goes all too quickly. Soon, the halls are flooded with students. I quickly make my way to homeroom and sit in the empty classroom so that I will be able to avoid Eric. It is not that I am afraid of him or that his words get to me at all. I am afraid that one day his actions will cause me to snap and fight back. I cannot let that happen, so I avoid him at all costs.

The warning bell rings, and some students walk into the room. One of them is Lauren who sits in the opposite corner of the room. Two other students sit in the desks in front of me, talking about their weekend. Another pair sits in the desks next to mine, talking about what they plan to do after school. For a moment, I wonder what it might be like to have friends like that. Even in my old school, I never really had friends. There are brief moments when I wonder what I am missing. But those moments are only fleeting.

Once homeroom is over, I head to my chemistry class. As usual, I sit in the back by myself. Because there is an odd number of students, I usually end up working on labs with Ms. Matthews, which only gives people more of a reason to pick on me. But on days when there is not a lab to work on, I do not mind sitting by myself.

"Class, pay attention," Ms. Matthews calls out. "We have a new student." I stare down at my notebook, not really caring about this. "Beatrice Prior-"

"Actually, Tris," I hear the new student chime in. "I prefer Tris."

"Of course," Ms. Matthew replies, and I can just imagine her pursed lips. "Tris, you can take a seat in the back, next to Tobias."

I look up just as Ms. Matthews points in my direction. I, then, look at the girl who is walking in my direction. She is quite small with long, wavy blonde hair and blue-grey eyes. Her eyes are stern, insistent. Beautiful. Not that it matters. It is not like I plan on making any friends any time soon. As she sits down next to me, I look back down at my notebook so that she does not try to introduce herself or talk to me in any way. For a moment, I can sense her eyes on me, but the feeling passes quickly, and we spend the class in silence, as Ms. Matthew lectures.

As she turns around to write something on the board, I feel something hit the back of my head. Most likely a balled up piece of paper. I only know because it has happened numerous times. I hear snickering behind me, but I don't bother to look back since I know that they will stop faster if I ignore them.

I feel the girl's eyes on me, but when I glance at her, she isn't smiling or laughing. Instead, she looks at me with concern. From the corner of my eye, I see her look over her shoulder at the people who threw the paper at me, but she doesn't say anything.

Luckily, the rest of the class continues uneventfully. I feel relief surge through me as the bell rings. Students start to file out of the room, even as Ms. Matthews continues to call out reminders of our assignment. As I collect my things, I can feel her eyes on me again. And suddenly, I hear her voice.

"Hey," she says, lightly touching my wrist, as I reach for my notebook. "Are you okay?"

I look up at her, surprised that she is even asking. Surprised that she hasn't retracted her hand yet. When I look at her, I see nothing but concern in her eyes. A look that tells me that she already knows that something is wrong, that she already knows that I'm about to lie to her.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I mutter.

Before she can say anything else, I stand up and leave the room, trying to clear all thoughts of this new girl from my mind.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi all! I was beyond happy with the reaction to the first chapter- I'm _so_ happy you guys liked it! **

**I've been having really bad writer's block lately, but I did really want to continue this story. So, I decided to do a chapter from Tris' POV so that you'll have a better understanding of her past and her actions in the last chapter.**

 **Thank you to velosewer, silevanilolav, Ane, It'sHardIKnow, 1991-Old-school-kid, mosuzmartian, parten340, ManhattanSky, Divergentmaniac, siriuslyobsessedwithfour, lucymllr, Naruisawesome, mlwil, kathyb, and Faith O for your comments. I appreciate your kind words!**

 **I hope you guys like this chapter. Let me know what you think :)**

* * *

 **Tris POV**

* * *

My mother was the one who told me to embrace nervousness. She told me that nervousness was just excitement with some uncertainty mixed in. That means that nervousness will always come before a good experience. Then again, she did say that on my very first day of school. And every day after that proved to be a nightmare. It's daunting to think that I have to do it all over again.

I run my hand through my hair, as I look myself over in the mirror on my dresser. My clothes are plain. Not ugly, but not flashy enough to draw attention to myself. They fit me better than they used to. They used to be far more baggy before I started filling out. As I adjust my shirt, I start to remember all of the comments that the other kids used to make when my clothes were so baggy. I remember how it made me feel even smaller than I already felt. Small, insignificant, powerless.

My hands grip onto the edge of the dresser, as I look down and take a deep breath to steady myself. I can only pray that this time will be different.

"Beatrice?"

I look up, as I hear my mother's voice followed by a soft knocking at my door. Taking another deep breath, I stand up straighter and cross my arms over my chest.

"Come in," I call out.

The door opens slowly, and my mother glides in, smiling one of her effortless smiles. Her grace amazes me everyday. Her eyes smile even when she does not. The way that she walks is calming in itself. And her smile makes me feel safe even when everything is going wrong. Everything about my mother is beautiful. It makes me wonder how I could possibly be her daughter.

"Almost time to go," she says, stopping in front of me. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay." She stares at me for a moment, and I shrug my shoulders. "A little scared."

She brings her hand up to my hair and brushes it over my shoulder before smiling warmly at me.

"You have nothing to be scared of, Bea," she says softly. "This is a brand new start."

"How do you know?" I ask. "What if I get there, and things end up being exactly like they were before?"

 _I don't think I could handle that,_ I think to myself. But I know better than to say that out loud. She never says anything, but I can see the pain in my mother's eyes when I talk about my experiences at my last school.

"Because things are different now," she says, bringing her hand to my cheek. " _You're_ different now. You have grown into such a strong, intelligent young woman. And if anyone does start acting up again, you know how to defend yourself now. If anyone says anything to you, just remember to say what your therapist told you to say."

"Somehow I don't think bullies will really care about "I" Statements," I mutter.

"Words can be more powerful than you think. But there's no point in preparing for something that might not even happen, is there?"

"No, I guess not."

She smiles warmly again and takes her hand away from my cheek. I take a step closer to her to close the space between us and hold out my arms, and she immediately returns the embrace. I rest my forehead on her shoulder, as she runs her hand over my hair. And I find myself wishing that she wouldn't let go. That I didn't have to face this day. But unfortunately, she lets me go just seconds later and starts to leave the room.

"Come downstairs so you can eat something before you leave, all right?"

"All right," I say, as she lets herself out of my room.

When she leaves, I look at myself in the mirror one more time and take a deep breath. I try to convince myself that everything will be all right. I want to believe that, but a part of me is still unsure. I suppose it's time to find out.

* * *

My new school is much nicer than my old one. My old school has drab grey walls and lockers, and it was never very clean. But this school is immaculate in comparison. Instead of boring grey walls, the walls here are red and black. There is a hum in the air, as all the voices of the students talking in the hallway blend together. They even seem more excited to be here.

Luckily, nobody even seems to notice me, as I walk through the hallway and to my new locker. Only one person brushes shoulders with me. They don't apologize, but they also don't tell me to watch myself like they would have at my old school.

When I reach my new locker, I look down at my combination, which I scribbled down in one of my notebooks, and key it in. I open it up and start putting my books in. But the entire time, I can't shake the feeling that someone is looking at me. Before I can decide if I should look around to see who it is, I feel someone come up next to me.

"Hey," a female voice says.

I turn my head and find myself looking back at a girl with short black hair and dark skin. Her lips are red, like the lips of a child who had too much red candy.

"Hi," I reply, my voice coming out quieter than I had hoped it would.

"You're new, aren't you?" she asks, tilting her head a bit. "I've, like, never seen you around here."

"Yeah, I am," I say, pulling my bag up further on my shoulder. "My name is Beatrice."

There is silence for a moment, as she quirks an eyebrow at me. I shift uncomfortably, wondering why she isn't responding, but she finally does before I can ask.

"Nuh-uh."

The simple comment surprises me, and I find myself at a loss for words for a moment. Her lips curl up just the slightest bit.

"What?" I ask.

"That's your real name?" I simply nod my head, and she bites her lip as if to stop herself from smiling. "Yeah, no, I'm not calling you that."

"What?" I repeat dumbly.

"Girl..." She leans into me as if she is telling me a secret. "I'm not calling you that. That's like a grandma name. No offense."

I stare at her, unsure of what to say, as she starts moving things around in her locker. She seems oblivious to my confused staring, so I decide to say something instead.

"Uhm, okay," I start slowly. "What would you rather call me, then?"

"Hmm," she hums, looking at me for a moment, as if she is trying to figure it out. "How about Bea?"

"That's what my parents call me," I say without thinking.

"Okay, never mind. How about... Tris?"

I shrug my shoulders at this. I find her candor a bit odd, but I can't really say it's entirely a bad thing. After all, she didn't insult me for my name, or make fun of me, or stop talking to me. She simply said that she doesn't want to call me that, and she wanted to make me a nickname. There's nothing wrong with that. Right?

Anyway, it seems like she is trying to befriend me. I'm not really in any position to turn away a potential friend. And maybe this is exactly what I need. A new start, a new identity. Maybe this new nickname will give me the boost of confidence that I need to do things differently this time. After all, this girl is right. Beatrice isn't exactly the kind of name one would expect a girl my age to have.

"That works," I tell her. "I like it."

"Cool, Tris." She grins. "I'm Christina."

* * *

"Class, pay attention," the teacher calls out, as I awkwardly stand next to her in the front of the room. "We have a new student. Beatrice Prior-"

"Actually, Tris," I chime in. "I prefer Tris."

"Of course," the teacher replies, though she doesn't seem very happy with my interjection. "Tris, you can take a seat in the back, next to Tobias."

My eyes follow the line of her finger, as she points toward a boy sitting at one of the desks near the back. I realize that he is the only one in the room who is sitting by himself, and I can't help but wonder why. As I walk toward him, he looks up at me briefly. It almost seems as if he is studying me, or maybe even sizing me up, and I find myself doing the same to him.

His hair is short and a nice shade of brown. He looks like he must be some type of athlete. And his eyes are a much, _much_ darker shade of blue than mine. But before I can make any more observations, he looks down at his notebook, signaling that he has no interest in introducing himself to me. I take the hint and sit down quietly, trying to comfort myself by reminding myself that there will be plenty more opportunities to make friends.

In fact, Christina even told me that I could sit with her and her friends at lunch after I showed her my schedule and she found that we were in the same lunch period. I can't help but think that if all of Christina's friends are as blunt as her, it is certainly going to take some getting used to. But it's better than having no friends at all.

I am taken from my thoughts, as I see something hit Tobias' head from the corner of my eye. I turn to look at him, but he is staring straight ahead at Ms. Matthews, as if nothing happened. But I know immediately that something is happening when the students behind us start snickering quietly, and Tobias glances at me, as if he is checking to see if I noticed or not. I look over my shoulder at the culprits, but they don't seem to notice me, since they are still too busy snickering and whispering to each other.

I look back at Tobias, but this time, he is staring down at the notebook in front of him. My heart sinks, as I watch him. I am immediately taken back to my time in my old school.

All the times that the other kids would push me, trip me, laugh at me, throw things at me. All the times that I was too afraid to say or do anything, to react at all, just like I have to guess this boy is. I remember how it would happen everyday, and yet nobody ever stepped in to help me. Nobody ever seemed to care.

As soon as the bell rings, I look at Tobias again. Now, he is packing his things up rather quickly. And that's when I realize it.

It was torture, going through it all alone. Day in and day out. But maybe that doesn't have to be the case for him. Maybe I could be the friend that I always wished for, but for him.

Before I can overthink it too much, I reach out and touch his wrist to stop his movements. He looks up at me, clearly surprised.

"Hey," I say, willing myself not to let my nerves show through. "Are you okay?"

There is silence for only a short moment before he responds.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he mutters.

Just like that, he stands up and leaves the room. And I watch after him, suddenly wishing that I knew more about this beautiful, brooding boy.


	3. Chapter 3

**Ah! I'm so sorry this took so long! I've just been ridiculously busy, and to tell you the truth I'm writing this at 3AM because I just couldn't wait around for free time anymore- it doesn't exist.**

 **Anyway, I'm so glad you guys like it so far! Quick heads up, I LOVE doing POV switches, so that happens in this chapter, but if you guys absolutely hate it, just let me know and I'll try to cut back on it.**

 **Well, I hope you guys are still out there/still care about this story because I do!**

 **And if you do care, I'd love to hear your thoughts! I hope you like it!**

* * *

 **Tobias POV**

* * *

I try my hardest to get through the cafeteria unnoticed, which proves to be rather easy since various people are still filing in and getting settled. I look around briefly and spot Eric and his friends across the way, and I immediately duck my head, hoping that I will be able to get in and get out without him seeing me. I get to the back of the cafeteria where the food is kept and look around. I pick up an apple and take the money that Amar allotted me out of my pocket. He gave a few dollars, but I figure it's better to get something small and pocket the change than use the full amount like he thinks I will. As I start walking toward the drink station, my eyes land on two girls standing in front of the drinks. One of them has short, dark hair and dark skin, but I don't recognize her. The other I recognize immediately. Tris, the new girl that tried to talk to me today. However, both of them have their backs to me, as they seem to examine the drink options.

"You're so lucky you have me to guide you," the other girl says. "You never _ever_ buy something from here if you can't identify what it is by looking at it."

"I don't know." Tris shrugs, as she picks up a bottle of juice and looks at the label. "My school's food was way worse."

"Ugh, no wonder you left!"

"Yeah, it was just because of the food," Tris mutters.

I remind myself that I don't have much time before Eric and his friends come in here. With that in mind, I take a step forward and reach for a bottle of water. As soon as I pick it up, I can sense her eyes on me. I look at her briefly before I walk away, and I feel an odd sensation go through me when I see that she is looking right at me. It feels more like she's looking right through me. Like she knows everything that I don't want her to know, but I know that that makes no sense. I take the bottle and the apple to the pay station, trying to ignore the feeling.

Once I have paid, I leave otherwise unnoticed through the side exit and make my way to the computer lab in the library where I normally spend lunch. Normally, the librarian, Hana, gets annoyed when people eat in here, but she makes an exception for me since I always help her when the printer gets jammed or one of the computers stops working. When I get to the computer lab, I sit down in the empty lab and eat by myself.

Hana once asked why I sit here and eat lunch by myself. I told her that I came here so that I could catch up on homework rather than just sitting and eating for half an hour. From the look that she gave me, I could tell that she didn't believe me, but she never questioned me again.

"There you are." I look over my shoulder and see Hana looking down at me. "The printer's acting up again."

"Got it," I say, as I start to stand up.

"You're eating less these days." I look at her, and she raises an eyebrow at me before looking down at the apple that I had placed in front of the computer. "Why is that?"

"I was in a rush," I say with a shrug, as I walk over to the printer and look at it.

"Well, then you wait here." I look up, but she starts walking away before I can object. "One of the teachers had a birthday today, and someone brought in bagels for it. You can eat one of those."

"I really don't-"

"You'll have one."

I roll my eyes, but I can't help but smile a little. Hana has always been authoritative in a gentle, motherly way. It is something that I never understood before I met her. But now that I have, she is the closest thing to a mother I have, and I am grateful for it. And so, I fix the jam in the printer for her and return to my seat where I wait for her like she asked me to.

* * *

 **Tris POV**

* * *

Once Christina and I have paid for our food, I follow her to her table where I realize that a few other people are waiting. I can feel their eyes on me, as I sit down, placing my food in front of me.

"All right, friends," Christina says, as she sits down as well. "I found new meat."

"Hi," I say, finally venturing to look up at them.

"This is Tris," she says before I can say anymore. She then looks at me and starts pointing across the table at everyone as she lists off their names. "This is Will, Al, Myra, and Edward."

Will and Al both smile and wave slightly when introduced, but Myra and Edward only briefly acknowledge me before returning their attention to each other, and I make a guess that they must be a couple.

"Where are you from, Tris?" Al asks with a smile.

"Here," I shrug. "I used to go to another high school in this district, I just transferred."

"Transferred?" Will says, furrowing his eyebrows. "In the middle of the school year? Normally when students transfer, the standard procedure is-"

"Oh, quit analyzing her, Will," Christina cuts in, rolling her eyes. "Sorry, Tris, he's just a know-it-all, and he always feels the need to prove it."

"I don't have to prove anything." He smiles cheekily. "You said it yourself. I can say it all because I know it all!"

She rolls her eyes again, and I can't help but laugh. I can't help but feel relieved that Christina changed the subject so that I didn't have to explain why I transferred. Instead of worrying about it, I just laugh, as they continue to make fun of each other. Every now and then, Al also nudges me and explains some of the inside jokes. At some point, Edward and Myra get up and walk away, unnoticed, to get some more food. But nobody else says anything, so I decide not to either, though I can't help but wonder why they sit here if they don't even talk to anyone else.

"Well, well." I look around, as does Christina. A tall boy with green eyes smirks back at us, as he stands in front of our table, looking down at us. "How's my favorite group of misfits doing?"

"Piss off, Peter," Christina says, rolling her eyes.

"No need to be so rude." He raises his hands defensively. "I heard there was a new girl. Just came to introduce myself."

Christina looks from him to me, and I can tell by the look on her face that she is worried about how I am going to react to him. And that doesn't surprise me. Even though he hasn't said anything rude to me specifically, everything about him spells out "bully." And I can feel my nerves increasing just from sitting under his stare. I look up at him, finally meeting his eyes, and he smirks again.

"So you're the new girl, huh?" I nod my head wordlessly. "That's funny. I didn't know ten year olds could go to high school."

"Leave her alone, Peter," Al says suddenly.

Christina looks at him, as if she is surprised, and I can't help but wonder if speaking up is unusual for Al. I look at Al as well, mostly so that Peter won't see how much his words affected me.

"What, are you gonna make me?" Peter chuckles, as if Al just told a joke.

"No, but I will," Christina snaps.

"Christina," Will says, as if he is scolding a child.

"Is there a problem over here?" one of the teachers asks, as she saunters over to us.

She looks from Christina to Peter who are still staring at each other until finally Peter answers.

"No problem here," he says, smiling at the teacher. "Just passing by. Did I mention that you look ravishing today, Ms. Wu? I really love what you're doing with your hair-"

"All right, Peter. Why don't you take a seat?"

I resist the urge to shrink down in my chair, as Peter shoots us one last look before he turns to walk to his lunch table. The teacher, Ms. Wu, looks at us one more time as well before she continues on her way. There is only silence for a moment before Christina groans and stabs one of the vegetables on her tray with her fork.

"I hate that kid."

"You shouldn't let him get under your skin," Will says, as he picks at his own food.

None of them speak for a moment. I feel eyes on me, though, and when I look up, I realize that Al is looking at me. He smiles a bit when I look up and nudges me.

"Don't worry about him, Tris. He's just a lying jerk."

"Yeah," Christina chimes in, smiling a little. "He's just jealous he couldn't get a cutie like you at his table."

I laugh a little, rather than blatantly disagreeing. Of course, I know what I look like. I know that nobody would ever be jealous of me or jealous that they couldn't have me. But I also know that they are trying to defuse the tension, and I am grateful. More than that, I am grateful to finally have such good friends.

* * *

 **Tobias POV**

* * *

Ever since we first made eye contact, I haven't been able to get away from the new girl. Whether it's my thoughts or the fact that she seems to be everywhere. Right now, for example, I sit on the bleachers with everyone else, as our gym teacher, Mr. Wu introduces her to the class. Once he lets her sit down with us and he starts explaining the plan for today, she sits down near me, and I can't say that I'm surprised. It also doesn't surprise me when I feel her eyes on me briefly, though it does confuse me. After all, I am invisible to most people in this school. And everyone else sees me as a punching bag. I have a feeling that if I ignore this new girl long enough, I will be invisible to her too eventually. She doesn't seem like the kind that would join in on the harassment.

Mr. Wu explains that we will be doing some basic tests today, starting with sit ups. He also tells us that we need to partner up. And once again, I am not surprised when the new girl walks right up to me and asks me to be her partner. Still, I agree since I doubt anyone else would want to work with me anyway.

"Do you want to go first?" she asks, as we move to our own section of the gymnasium.

I shrug my shoulders in response before laying back on the cold gym floor and bringing my hands behind my head. I watch her wordlessly, as she kneels down in front of me and presses her hands lightly to the top of my shoes. I consider telling her that there's no point; I can easily do sit ups on my own. But I've never been one for talking much, so I let it go instead.

"One minute," Mr. Wu says before he clicks the timer. "Go!"

She doesn't say anything, but I feel her eyes on me the entire time, as I do sit up after sit up. It's never really been a challenge for me. I've been strong for years. But I can guess by her thin arms and small stature that she is going to have a much harder time with this. I lay back for a moment, as Mr. Wu tells us that the minute is up.

"You're really good at that," Tris comments, making me look up at her. I simply look back at her, and she smiles just the slightest bit, as she starts to lay back and I move to kneel in front of her. "Do you think I can do that many?"

"It'd be easier if you didn't talk so much," I mutter, hoping that she doesn't see the double meaning in my words.

"I haven't even started yet." As if on cue, Mr. Wu yells for everyone to start again. I press my hands to the tops of her shoes like she did to mine, as she sits up slowly and a bit shakily. "You made it look so easy."

"I'm used to it."

"Are you an athlete or something?" she asks, breathing a bit more heavily now as she goes.

"Why do you ask so many questions?"

"I…" She lets out a deep breath, as she lays back again. "Like talking to you."

"Why?" I nearly snort.

She smirks. "Because you're so approachable."

I roll my eyes, as she sits up since Mr. Wu said that we will be moving onto the next task. As he explains the next task, she turns to look at me, and I look back at her. I feel a strange sensation course through me when our eyes meet, but I decide it's better to ignore it.

"Why are you so mean?" she whispers.

But it doesn't sound like an accusation. It sounds like a real, genuine question. Still, I can't help but feel taken aback by it.

"Why do you care so much?" I retort, quietly so that Mr. Wu won't hear.

But it seems that he hasn't noticed our side conversation since he is still talking. Tris shrugs her shoulders at this.

"Because I don't think you're really mean. I think it's an act."

"Why would I act mean to you?" I ask, though I'm not sure why I'm still humoring her.

She looks down for a moment, as she bites her lip, and I can't help but watch the movement. For a moment, I think that I have stumped her, but I should have known better.

"Because if you're mean to me, I'll leave you alone," she whispers without looking at me. "I'll pretend you're invisible. And if I can't see you, I can't hurt you."

I find myself at a loss for words once again, as she looks up at me with the sincerest look that anyone has given me in quite some time. I knew that she would be a challenge. But I certainly didn't think she would be this challenging.

"You're wrong, though," she continues. "Trust me. Even when they can't see you, they can still hurt you."

I stare back at her for a moment, but before I can say anything, Mr. Wu blows his whistle and tells us to line up for the next task. She looks at me one more time before she walks toward the line. I make my way to the line as well, just like any other day. But her words never leave my mind, and neither do the feelings that she managed to stir up inside me.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey everyone! I'm sorry for taking so long to update. Life has just been crazy lately. I mean, really crazy, like unbelievable. But while it's being dealt with, I thought that updating might make me feel a little better, and I was right :) So I hope you guys are still interested!**

 **Thank you to paula08, It'sHardIKnow, MehItsAutumn, Ane, Naruisawesome, BK2U, SheWhoTurnedToDust, Laurelthecutenerd, divergentpanda46, leek812, Eunice339, velosewer, Guest, Shadows of a Dying Soul, JaceCube, TheTrueDivergent, and Faith O for your kind words on the last chapter. I really appreciate hearing all your thoughts.**

 **I hope you guys like this chapter. Let me know what you think. :)**

* * *

 **Tris POV**

* * *

I can feel my nerves threatening to swallow me whole, as I walk slowly through the hallway. I nearly come to a stop in the middle of the hallway, and the throngs of students around me continue to mill through the hallways, talking with their friends the entire time. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find Christina. I looked for her first since her locker is right near mine, but I suppose she isn't in today. And I haven't seen any other familiar face. That means that I have to remember how to find my class on my own, but for some reason, I cannot remember a thing from yesterday.

I let out a sigh, as I take another hesitant step forward. After all, I'll never find it if I just stand here. I look down at the schedule that I was given yesterday to check the room number again.

"Yo, watch it!"

I jump a little and look up, as someone bumps into me. I expected that he would just keep walking like people always used to when they bumped into me and pushed me, but instead, he simply stands there and looks at me.

"Sorry," I mutter.

"Whatever," he shrugs. "You're lost, aren't you?"

"Is it that obvious?" I ask.

Suddenly, he smiles. It's such a genuine smile that I feel my nerves melt away. I was so nervous that he was going to terrorize me for running into him like the people at my other school used to. But with a smile like that, I find it hard to believe that he could hurt anyone.

"Maybe I can help," he says, as he reaches for my schedule. "I'm Uriah, by the way."

"I'm Tris," I say.

He doesn't respond for a moment, as he looks down at the schedule. But finally he nods and looks up at me again, his smile still in place. He points down the hall, never looking away from me.

"That way, first right," he says. "Then, you go all the way down, and it's on your left."

"Thanks." I smile gratefully at him. "I might have been here all day if you didn't show up."

"Not a bad way to spend the day," he shrugs. "Anyway, I gotta go. But I'm sure I'll be seeing you again, Tris."

He winks, his smile still in place before he saunters away, immediately joining into a group of students who were walking that way. Loud students. And they only start talking and laughing louder when Uriah joins them. I watch after them for a moment, wondering what it is like to have such a fun, solid friendship. Still, I hope that I might know soon since Christina and her friends seem to have welcomed me to their group.

"Tris!"

I look over my shoulder only to see Christina rushing toward me. I turn around to face her.

"Hey," I greet her. "I thought you weren't coming."

"Nah, I was just running late." She looks past me for a moment before looking at me again. "Why were you talking to Uriah?"

"He was just helping me find my class," I shrug.

"Really?" She raises an eyebrow, as I nod at her. "I find that hard to believe."

"Why?" I ask.

"Because Uriah's a troublemaker," she says.

"What do you mean? He seems nice."

"Nice," she chuckles, rolling her eyes. "Look, today is Uriah's first day back from his suspension."

"What?" Suddenly, I feel my nerves returning. "What did he do?"

"It was pretty stupid actually. Him and some of his friends always sneak up to the roof during lunch. One time while they were up there, him and his friend Marlene decided to throw eggs at the cars in the parking lot from the roof. They probably would have gotten away with it except Marlene fell over the edge."

"Oh my god! Is she okay?"

"Yeah, she's fine," Christina says, waving dismissively. "She grabbed onto an awning on her way down, so she just needed help getting down. Look, the point is, Uriah's a funny guy. From a distance. You don't want to be standing too close to him next time he does something stupid, you know?"

"Right, that makes sense."

She smiles a little at me just as the bell rings. I say goodbye to her since she still has to go to her locker, and I have to get to my class. As soon as I get there, though, I look at the back corner and see Uriah sitting there talking to the girl next to him and the two people in front of him, who are turned around in their chairs to talk to him. He looks up, and our eyes meet. Without skipping a beat in the story that he was telling me, he smiles and waves at me. I wave back at him, as I take my seat across the room, next to Tobias. I look at him only to see that he was staring back at me, but he looks down at his notebook as soon as our eyes meet.

"Good morning to you, too," I say. He glances at me briefly before looking down again. "Are you not talking to me again?"

"I was never talking to you in the first place," he mutters.

"You talked to me during gym yesterday." To which he doesn't respond. "Remember, gym?"

"Yes, I remember gym," he says, rolling his eyes.

There is silence for a moment save for the sound of everyone else around us engaged in their own conversations. I glance at the clock and realize that the second bell is going to ring very soon. I take a deep breath and look at Tobias again.

"Who do you sit with at lunch?"

He looks at me as if I just asked him for his deepest secret.

"Why are you asking me that?"

"I don't know," I shrug. "If you don't sit with anyone, then maybe you could come sit with us today."

"I don't think so," he says simply.

"All right," I say. "I'll ask again tomorrow."

He rolls his eyes and looks down at his papers again just as the second bell rings and Ms. Matthews tells us all to quiet down. I look down at my notes as well, as she starts her lecture for today. For a while, I am actually able to focus on the information. I am actually able to push the thoughts of Tobias and all the other people I have met out of my head.

But then, I see it. From the corner of my eye, I see something hit the back of Tobias' head just like yesterday, and I hear snickering from behind us. I look at Tobias who has his eyes closed, as if he is trying to calm himself down. Then, I look back at the two people sitting behind us. One boy and one girl, both still snickering like children. When I see the look on Tobias' face, I begin to remember just how much of a toll that one little push can take. When you have been tormented so long, even the smallest infliction can feel like a major assault.

"Have you got a problem?"

From the corner of my eye, I can see Tobias look at me. The two people behind us also stop snickering, as they both give me looks. It seems that I didn't say it loud enough to disrupt the class, since I can still hear Ms. Matthews talking. However, it is obvious that the people who needed to hear it did.

"What are you, his girlfriend?" the girl says with an ugly smirk.

"He's a pedophile in the making if he's got a thing for her," the boy adds.

I feel my face turn red at this. Being made fun of for looking younger than I really am is not new for me, but for some reason, it still makes me self-conscious every time.

"Hey, why don't you back off?" Tobias demands suddenly.

The two seem just as surprised as me that he talked back, but they recover much faster than I do. I look at Tobias, but he is looking at the two of them, obviously angry.

"Ooh, so he _does_ like her," the girl says, narrowing her eyes on me.

The two start snickering again, and I can feel myself getting angry too just watching them.

"Just leave him alone," I say a little louder than I meant to.

"Is there a problem back there?"

I turn back around in my seat only to see Ms. Matthews staring at me, her eyebrow raised expectantly. I can also feel the eyes of most of the students on me.

"No," I say quickly.

"No problem?" I nod at her. "Then, I'll need your eyes up here, Beatrice."

"Sorry."

She nods at me, though she still seems irritated.

"As I was saying..."

I hear the two behind us start snickering again, as Ms. Matthews turns to write something on the board, as she lectures. But more importantly, I can tell that Tobias is still looking at me. I turn to look at him as well. And though we look at each other for a moment, I find it impossible to figure out what he might be thinking.

Suddenly, he looks down and starts writing something on his notebook paper. He glances up at Ms. Matthews briefly before he tears off a small piece of paper and slides it over to me. I look at him curiously, but he doesn't look at me this time. So, instead, I look down at the paper only to see that he has written a note for me on it.

 _Are you okay?_

I feel a strange sensation course through me, as I read it. From the moment I met him, he has been so harsh and closed off. I never expected that he would ask me something like this. But now that he has, I find myself thinking that it might be my chance to get through to him.

 _Are you?_ I write.

I slide the paper back over to him. He looks down at it for one long moment. I find myself sitting there, just waiting for his answer. Ms. Matthew's lecture has been all but forgotten at this point. But eventually, he slides the paper under his notebook and looks up at the board. I feel my heart sink a little, as I realize that he isn't going to answer.

"I'll ask again tomorrow," I murmur, just loud enough for him to hear.

I glance at him just as he rolls his eyes at my comment. Getting through to him is going to take longer than I thought.

* * *

 **Four POV**

* * *

Once I have sneaked out of the cafeteria and made it to the library, I try to focus on pushing all thoughts about this morning out of my head. It was incredibly surprising that Tris tried to stand up for me. However, I know that I shouldn't take it too seriously. She only stood up for me because she is new; she doesn't know what she is getting herself into. She doesn't know how brutal these people can be. But as soon as she realizes it, she isn't going to want any part in it, and she will finally leave me alone.

"Tobias, there you are!" I turn around in my seat, as Hana approaches me. "What are you working on today?"

"Just some homework," I say, vaguely gesturing toward the computer in front of me.

"So studious," she says, smiling slightly. "Actually, I wanted to ask you something about that."

"Go for it."

"I've mentioned to you that my sons are students here, haven't I?" She looks at me, and I nod in response. "Well, one of them was, er... out of school for awhile."

I force myself to hold in a laugh at her word choice. Of course, I know that she is talking about her son, Uriah, and his suspension. I may not have friends in this school, but one of the things I've learned about high school is that you'll still hear the rumors even when nobody is talking to you.

"Anyway, he's a little behind on schoolwork," she continues. "And I know that you've been getting very good grades. I was wondering if maybe you would be willing to help him a little?"

"Help, as in-"

"Tutor," she finishes. "I'd really like it if you could tutor him."

I raise an eyebrow at this, as she looks back at me almost desperately.

"I don't know about that," I say.

"Tobias, I would really appreciate it," she tries again. "Maybe I could even pay you a little. I just think it could really do wonders for him. You have great grades, but you're also so focused and such a hard worker. Maybe he could pick that up from you. He needs guidance, but he won't listen to me. I think that maybe if he sees someone near his age with such focus, he'll be a little more focused, too."

I let out a sigh, as she stares back at me hopefully. Hana really is the closest thing I have to a mother, and I realize that it has always been difficult for me to say no to her, especially now. Besides, it's not like Uriah has ever given me any problems in the past. I doubt that he will start now.

"All right," I say finally. "I'll do it. And you don't have to pay me."

"I knew I could count on you," she says, smiling. "We'll figure out the details tomorrow, all right? You can finish your homework."

I nod at her, as she stands up. She offers me one more smile before she walks away, and I turn back to the computer in front of me. Now, I find myself trying not to think about Tris and my upcoming study sessions with Uriah. It's really amazing. I spent all this time and effort avoiding people and trying to stay to myself, and yet, they are still pushing their way into my life.

It seems that I am still making that effort. When gym class rolls around, I continue to avoid Tris for the entirety of the class. Still, I know that she isn't easy to ignore. She proves that to me when I leave the locker room after class and find her standing outside in the hallway, leaning against the wall opposite the locker room.

Our eyes meet, as I walk out, but I say nothing. I try to continue walking in the hopes that she will give up, but of course, she isn't that easy to shake. She pushes off the wall and starts walking next to me. I can feel her eyes on me, but I continue to look forward as I walk.

"You really don't like me, huh?"

For some reason, the question takes me by surprise. I stop in the middle of the hallway to turn and face her, and she looks back at me expectantly.

"What?"

"Made you talk," she says, smiling just the slightest bit. I roll my eyes at this, but she doesn't seem affected by it. "Will you tell me if you're okay or not?"

"Why do you care so much?"

"I asked you yesterday and today, and you didn't respond. That makes me think that you're not okay."

"The question still stands," I say. "Why do you care?"

"Because I care about your well-being," she says in a matter-of-fact way. "Is that so hard to believe?"

"Great," I mutter. "Well, thanks for caring, but I need to get going."

"Okay," she shrugs nonchalantly, but I can tell by the look in her eyes that she is upset.

"Okay."

I turn and start walking, though I can't shake the feeling of her eyes on me. And before I get too far, I hear her voice again.

"I'll ask again tomorrow," she says, as I walk away.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey, everyone! I'm sorry for taking so long to update, I've just had terrible writer's block but I'm back now!**

 **Thank you to BK2U, Laurelthecutenerd, SheWhoTurnedToDust, Love the Brightest Star, pphrts, paula08, Sawyerrr, TheTrueDivergent, velosewer, sunlight stars, Guest, It'sHardIKnow, MehIt'sAutumn, Cecilia, Naruisawesome, and Onnika2003 for your kind words on the last chapter.**

 **I hope you guys like this chapter, let me know what you think :)**

* * *

 **Four POV**

* * *

Hana decided on a schedule, so today will be my first day tutoring her son, Uriah. She wanted it to be during lunchtime so that he wouldn't miss out on any homework time after school, and she knows that I already spend my lunch at the library anyway. So now, I am following my usual routine of getting in to the cafeteria quickly to pick out a small amount of food so that I can get out quickly without anyone seeing me.

I start to walk out of the cafeteria quickly, as I always do. But this time, someone walks to stand in front of me, effectively stopping me, just feet away from the door.

"Hey, man!" the boy says with a grin. "I'm Uriah. You're Tobias, right?"

"Uh, yeah," I say, looking around quickly to make sure that no one else has spotted me.

"Cool, so I'm just gonna grab something and eat real quick and then I'll meet you in the library," he says. "Ten minutes tops. Sound good?"

I groan internally, as I look around and realize that Eric is looking at me from his table with a smirk on his face. Just as he starts to stand up, his friends following after him, I look back at Uriah.

"Yeah, sure, that's fine," I say quickly.

I start walking before he can say anything until I have gotten through the doors. I look back through the glass door only to see that Eric and his friends are headed in my direction. My heart starts racing, but I still have some pride.

And that's why I only start running once I have turned a corner and they can't see me anymore.

I race down the hallways, but I know the school isn't that big. Plus, it'll be easier for them to hear me because the hallways are just about empty now since everyone is either in lunch or class.

Soon, I hear their footsteps behind me, and I can tell from the noise that they are also running. I look over my shoulder, as I run, but I cannot see them. They must be a hallway behind me. Unfortunately, I looked back for a bit too long.

I curse under my breath, as I run into someone, effectively knocking them down. And I can't help but groan internally again when I see that the person was Tris. She looks stunned for a second before she starts pushing herself up.

"Tobias, what-"

"Quiet," I cut her off.

I grab her hand, pulling her to her feet. I can tell from the noise behind me that they are getting closer. I look to my left and see a janitor's closet. But then I realize, I don't have time to explain to Tris why I'm running into a janitor's closet. And if I leave her out here, she'll just stay outside waiting for me, and Eric will know I'm here.

With that in mind, I take a deep breath and grab Tris' hand again. Before she can even get a word out, I open the door to the janitor's closet and pull her in after me. The last thing I see before I close the door is the look of bewilderment on her face. But without the door open, it is insanely dark in here.

"Tobias, what the-"

"Hold on," I hiss.

I hold up a finger in front of her face- or at least where I think her face is- as if that will keep her quiet. She lets out a sigh, but luckily she doesn't say anything more. We both just stand there, as I listen for them. I hear them running, I hear their footsteps coming closer and closer. And then, finally, I hear them pass us completely. I let out a relieved sigh.

"They're gone," she says, frustration in her voice. "Can I talk now?"

"I suppose."

"Okay, let's get out of here, first of all-"

"No." I reach out, somehow finding and grabbing her wrist to stop her from opening the door. "They might be waiting down the hall."

There is silence for a moment.

"You're crazy."

"Better safe than sorry."

She sighs this time, as she drops her arm, and I let go of her. I can feel fear starting to settle into me. Being in this small, dark room only reminds me of my childhood, when my father would lock me in my closet as punishment. I clench my fists at the thought because I know that I cannot leave yet. If I do walk out, and they are waiting outside, I will have put both myself and Tris in danger.

Still, I realize that Hana is waiting for me, and I don't want to let her down. And I can't exactly tell her that I was late because I was hiding from my foster brother in a janitor's closet.

"Can you at least tell me what's going on?" Tris tries again.

"What, you don't like my room?"

"That's it, I'm leaving."

"No, wait," I sigh. "I'm just... hiding."

"From who?" she asks.

"It doesn't matter who."

I can sense her hesitate, as if she wants to ask again, but she doesn't. Instead, she reaches out and takes my hand. I think about pulling my hand away, but a part of me realizes that the contact is calming the fear that I was feeling.

"Tobias, I think they're gone by now," she says softly. "I think we can go."

It is only when she squeezes my hand comfortingly that I come to my senses. I pull my hand away from hers and take a deep breath.

"All right, fine."

I move my hand around until I find the knob. I open the door, and light immediately floods in. My eyes find Tris only to find that she was already looking at me. But she doesn't say anything. She looks away, as she walks out of the closet, and I follow her.

"What is going on here?"

I look around, realizing that Mrs. Wu was walking down the hallway, and she was headed in our direction.

"It's not what it looks like," Tris says.

"It looks like two students were sneaking into a janitor's closet together," she says angrily. "I need you both to come to the office with me right now."

I can't help but feel a little guilty, as Tris closes her eyes and takes a breath, obviously nervous. My time at this school and with Eric has been a living hell. But that doesn't mean that I need to drag her into it and make her high school experience hell too.

"It was my fault," I say before I can overthink it. "I was hiding from someone, and I just pulled her in with me. She had nothing to do with it."

Mrs. Wu looks between us for a moment before she nods and gestures for me to follow her. I look back at Tris for a moment only to find that she was staring back at me, obviously surprised. But neither of us say anything, as she stands there watching Mrs. Wu and I walk away.

* * *

 **Tris POV**

* * *

One of the worst parts of being a new student is that all of my teachers at one point or another feel the need to stop me after class to make sure that I'm understanding everything. Even my last period teacher did it, which means that I have to hurry if I plan on catching the school bus.

I shut my locker and start speed-walking toward the door. The hallways are nearly empty at this point, which tells me that I most likely have just seconds to spare. I walk through the doors, and I immediately find myself frozen, as I see someone sitting outside the school on one of the benches. Even from the back, I can tell that it is Tobias.

I haven't seen him since earlier today when he got me out of trouble and went to the main office alone. I start walking toward him just as the bus doors start closing, and they start to leave the parking lot.

He only seems to realize that I'm here, as I sit down next to him on the bench. I can sense his eyes on me, as I pull my book bag into my lap and look down at it. I can still sense it, as I look up and watch the buses drive away.

"So, how much trouble did you get in?" I ask quietly.

There is silence for a moment, and I begin to wonder if he is just going to sit here quietly. Or worse, if he is going to get up and leave me here alone.

"A decent amount," he mutters finally, and I let out a breath of relief just for the fact that he is talking to me. "Once she got it out of me that I was hiding from my foster brother, she decided to call my foster parent and let him know."

"Is that why you didn't get on the bus then?" I ask.

"I never get on the bus."

"Because of..." I trail off, as I look back at him. "Right."

"My foster parent doesn't care as long as I'm home by five," he says. "Why didn't _you_ get on the bus?"

I shrug. "I saw you sitting here, and I wanted to talk to you."

He doesn't say anything for a moment, so I look around the now empty parking lot, waiting.

"What is your fascination with me?" he mutters.

"What do you mean?"

"You're always trying to talk to me," he says. "You're always asking me if I'm okay and trying to get answers out of me."

"Have you ever thought that maybe I just want to be your friend?" I try again.

"You don't even know me," he says shortly. "There's another reason."

I look at him, but he is looking around the parking lot now.

"Maybe it's because I know what you're up against," I say. "And I thought maybe you could use a friend who's been there."

He looks at me, a hint of anger in his eyes.

"Been where?"

"Bullied," I say before I can think about it too much.

He stares at me for a moment. This time, I'm sure he is going to get up and leave me here. And I can't help but feel a little surprised when he doesn't.

"You?" he says disbelievingly. "You were bullied?"

"What, you don't believe me?" I ask. He stares at me for a moment, and I cannot quite tell what he is thinking. Finally, he shrugs a little and looks away. "You're not the only one, you know. Why do you think I had to switch schools in the middle of the year?"

"Well," he says, a little more hesitant this time. "What did they do, then?"

Suddenly, I feel a chill run through me, as I think about it. It is almost as if that one question transported me back to my old school for a split second, and I begin to feel it all over again. Everything that I felt as it was happening. Still, I force myself to speak. I realize it may be the only way to get through to him at all.

"Do you really want to know?" I ask.

Our eyes meet, and this time, I notice, most of the anger has left his eyes. He simply nods in response. I take a deep breath, knowing that I will most likely have to relive all of it as soon as I talk about it.

"It wasn't that bad when it started. People would always pick on me because I was so small, and I looked so much younger than the other girls in my grade. At first, they would call me names, laugh when I walked by. Then, they started tripping me..." I look up at him again. "Throwing things at me."

He nods a little bit before looking down.

"And then, they started cornering me in the hallways. They got a hold of my phone number, and they started texting me these awful things. They found a way into my locker, and they started putting things in it. Every time I tried to talk back to them, it just got worse. Every time I tried to defend myself, they became more vicious. It just kept escalating and escalating until one day..."

I stop for a moment. I realize that I'm not even sure if I'm ready to say the next part out loud. But before I can decide, he speaks.

"What happened?" he presses.

I would be surprised that he even asked if I wasn't so busy trying to find a way to get the words out. I take a deep breath.

"They put a little bottle of bleach in my locker with a note on it that said 'drink me.'"

I look down at my lap for a moment, letting the silence settle between us. I can sense his eyes on me, but I find myself unable to look back at him. I can't even bring myself to believe that I have told him something so personal.

"What did you do?" he asks.

I look at him without thinking, and I feel a little surprised when I see a hint of sympathy in his eyes.

"I took it home," I say quietly. "I tried to drink when I got home, but my mom caught me and stopped me."

He looks at me wordlessly for a moment before he looks down, seemingly deep in thought.

"You didn't have to tell me that," he says.

"I know," I say. I nudge his shoulder with mine, and he looks up at me again. "But friends tell each other things."

* * *

 **Four POV**

* * *

After everything that Tris told me, I couldn't help but talk to her a while longer. Nothing else so serious came up in our conversation- it was mostly small talk. Still, it was the longest conversation I've had in quite some time. Especially since she decided to walk home with me as well.

As much as I hate to admit it, I can tell that she is growing on me. Of course, I would never say it out loud, and I can barely accept it in my mind. Still, I know that it is the truth, and I have no idea how to handle that.

I let myself into the house through the front door. As I close the door behind me, I look around, but I don't see anyone in the living room or anything.

"Four?" I hear Amar call from the kitchen. "Can you come in here?"

Wordlessly, I start walking to the kitchen. When I get there, I see Amar sitting at the table. And in the chair next to him is Eric, his arms crossed over his chest. He glares at me as soon as I walk in.

"Have a seat, Four," he says. I hesitate for a moment before I sit down at the other end of the table. "We need to have a family meeting."

"What about Lauren?" I mutter.

"This doesn't concern Lauren," he says shortly. "This is about you two. I'm sick and tired of you two always fighting."

 _Fighting._ I didn't know you could call it fighting when one side acts out and the other runs for cover.

"You two live in the same house, and you go to the same school," he continues. "At the very least, you need to start being civil with each other-"

"You're right." I look up surprised, as Eric nods at Amar in agreement. Eric looks at me, and I fight to keep eye contact with him. "I'm sorry, Four. I thought we were just messing around. I didn't realize that you were so scared that you would hide in a janitor's closet to get away from me. But now that I know, I'll stop messing with you. I'm sorry."

Amar looks at me expectantly, and I look back at him, trying not to show how confused I am. Despite my confusion about Eric's apology, I know that Amar will not let us go until I say something too.

"It's okay," I say finally. "Thanks for apologizing."

At this, Eric nods and looks down at the table. Amar looks from him to me and stares at me for a moment as if he is waiting for more. But eventually, he seems to realize that I have nothing else to say.

"All right," he says. "I'm glad you two have settled this. I don't want to hear about anything like this happening again. Clear?"

"Clear," we both seem to mumble in unison.

Amar nods at us. He hesitates for a moment before he stands up and walks out of the room, leaving Eric and I alone. I watch Eric, as he stands up from the table and walks toward the doorway, his face expressionless.

"I really am sorry," he says, as he walks out of the room. "Sorry for what I'm gonna have to do to you now. You're gonna regret opening your big mouth, Four."


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys! So I know I haven't updated in forever, I've just been really busy. But I've gotten a couple of requests to continue, so here I am!**

 **This chapter is a little short because it's basically something that I typed out when I had some time, but I never got a chance to finish it. But I figured instead of having you guys wait forever, I would post this in the meantime and just post more when I have time.**

 **Hopefully you guys like it, and I'll try to update soon! Let me know what you think!**

* * *

 **Tris POV**

* * *

"This is insane," I tell Christina.

She looks at me and shrugs before she turns to face her vanity mirror to fix her makeup. I look at the full length mirror that is hung on the back of her bedroom door, and I nearly cringe at what I see. Christina decided that what I was wearing wasn't good enough, so she dressed me in a tight grey crop top, tight skinny jeans, and heeled black boots that I could barely walk in at first.

Christina decided that she wanted to go to a party tonight, and she invited me to go with her. While parties have never been my thing, I was still afraid to say no. After all, I'm not really in a position to push friends away, especially since I only have a couple at this point.

Still, as soon she finished my makeup and hair and put me in this outfit, I began to regret the decision immediately.

"I think you look cute," she says, as she turns to face me again. "That top and those jeans show off your shape."

"I don't have a shape," I mutter.

"You do, sweetie," she smirks. "I can see it. Finally."

"What do you mean, finally?" I ask.

"I mean, the clothes you wear to school are so goddamn baggy," she says, as she sits down on the edge of her bed. "It's nice to see that you have a shape for a change."

I roll my eyes, as I look at myself in the mirror again. I realize that she is right; this tight outfit certainly makes my body look more mature, and the makeup makes me look more like my age. Still, it is so odd and so uncomfortable to see myself this way.

"This is gonna be a long night," I mutter to myself.

"With that attitude, yeah," she says, as she looks at her phone. "Will is outside. You ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," I say dryly.

"That's the spirit," she says, rolling her eyes. With that, she hops off of her bed and opens up the door. "Let's go, hot stuff."

I roll my eyes, as I walk through the door. Together, we walk down the stairs and to the front door. As soon as we walk outside, I see Will sitting in his car, which is parked in front of Christina's house. I take a deep breath, as I follow Christina over to the car. She runs ahead of me to let herself into the passenger seat while I let myself into the backseat. Will looks over his shoulder at me and smiles.

"I see Christina remade you for the night," he says.

I roll my eyes again, as I strap myself in. I end up tuning them out as Christina chatters on about something or other and Will sometimes responds in a sarcastic tone. Instead of listening, I stare out the window. I rub my palms against my jeans to keep them from sweating. But dry palms aren't enough to calm my nerves about going to this party.

"This better be amazing like you promised," Will says, as he parks on the street.

"It's their first party since his suspension," Christina says. "Of course it'll be amazing!"

"Wait," I blurt out, as he takes his keys out of the ignition. "This party is at Uriah's house?"

"And his older brother, Zeke," Christina says, as she looks back at me. "But it's fun to watch him and Uriah fight over the 'life of the party' title."

"I thought you said not to hang around Uriah."

"At school. But this is a party." She shrugs and smirks at me. "Live a little."

Before I can say anything else, Christina throws open the door and hops out of the car. Will smiles at me a little before he gets out of the car. I take a deep breath before I follow them. After all, I don't really have a choice at this point- we're already here.

As I close the car door behind me, Christina looks at her reflection in the car window and worries over her hair one last time. Finally, she turns to look at me and smiles.

"You ready?"

Just as I open my mouth to respond, I see a movement from the corner of my eye. I look up at the house across the street, as the front door opens, and I nearly freeze, as I see none other than Tobias emerge from the house with a garbage bag in hand.

"Just about," I say. "I just remembered, I need to... uhm, call my mom. I'll meet you in there."

Christina raises an eyebrow at this.

"Okay, whatever," she says, as she starts walking toward Uriah's house with Will. "Just don't stay on the phone with Mommy all night. We've got things to do!"

I roll my eyes, as they head for the front door together. I look back across the street at Tobias' house just as he drops the garbage bag into the garbage can. He looks up, and I feel something stir within me, as our eyes meet. And that is when I realize that he isn't moving. He is waiting for me.

I take a deep breath and look around quickly to make sure Will and Christina are inside before I start across the street. He looks around as well, though I am not sure what he is looking for. When I am finally standing right in front of him, we stare at each other for a moment before I realize that I should probably say something.

"Doing chores?" I say, immediately mentally chastising myself for picking the most boring thing to say.

"Yeah," he shrugs, glancing down at the garbage can. "Mine and my foster brother's."

"That sucks." He shrugs again, but he says nothing. "I didn't know you and Uriah lived so close to each other. Are you coming to the party?"

He shakes his head a bit, his eyes never leaving mine.

"Don't think so," he says.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I ask without thinking.

He looks surprised by the question for a moment before he composes himself.

"You look different," he says.

And that is when I remember the outfit that Christina put me in. If I didn't feel so frozen under his gaze, I would have immediately moved to cover my bare stomach with my arms. Instead, I look down for a moment and bite my lip. When I look back up, I notice just the slightest hint of a smirk on his lips.

"Is it a good different?" I ask.

He stares at me for a moment, the smirk disappearing from his lips.

"I should probably go back inside," he says, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Wait," I call out, as he starts to turn around. Luckily, he stops and looks at me. "If you live just across the street, why not come to the party?"

"It's just not my thing," he says simply.

"It's not mine either," I try again. "Would you come if only to help me get through it?"

He smiles just the slightest bit, and I can't help but smile back at him. He shakes his head a little.

"I think you'll do just fine," he says. "Goodnight, Tris."

Before I can say anything else, he turns and starts walking back to the front door of his house. I look down for a moment, the smile still on my face, before I too turn and start walking back to Uriah's house. The entire time that I walk, I try to stop thinking about Tobias, about the way that he was looking at me, without success.

Just as I reach the front door of Uriah's house, the door swings open, and I find myself face-to-face with Christina.

"There you are!" she groans, grabbing my arm and pulling me into the house. "I was worried that you'd bailed!"

"Not a chance of that," I say, as I look around the house.

There are already quite a few people here. More than I was expecting. If it wasn't for Christina's tight hold on my arm, as she leads me through the house, I probably would have ended up frozen in a corner, just trying to stay out of everyone's way. Eventually, she stops once she reaches Will, who I notice has a red cup in his hand.

I have never really been to this kind of party, but I know from television shows and movies what that cup means, and I find myself frozen again.

"Let me try that," Christina says, taking the cup out of Will's hand before he can even answer, though he doesn't seem bothered by it. "That's not bad. Get Tris one of these!"

"I don't think-"

"And me!" she says, as Will walks away, most likely to get her the drink she asked for. "Get one for me too!"

"Christina-"

"Don't worry, it's fruity," she says, smiling mischievously at me. "You'll like it."

"I bet," I mutter. "I'm just gonna go, uhm... use the bathroom."

"Okay," she shrugs before she turns and starts talking to someone else.

I roll my eyes, as I start walking away. And as I walk, I try to decide if I should stick it out or just up and leave while I have a chance.

"Hey!"

I look over my shoulder, as someone nudges me.

"Uriah," I greet him, as he grins at me. "Hey."

"Look at this!" he says, though no one else is listening. "This is your first time here, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is," I say, trying to appear friendly even though I just want to get out of here.

"That's awesome! You know what?" He slings his arm over my shoulders, the grin still on his face. "Since it's your first time, I am going show you how the Pedrad's party!"


	7. Chapter 7

**Oh hey! I wonder if anyone still cares about this story? I know I haven't updated in a long time, I've just been so busy, and life has been... Well, it's been kicking my a**.**

 **But anyway, I'm finally starting to get past my mental block, which means that hopefully I'll be updating more. That is, if anyone cares about this anymore haha.**

 **If anyone is reading this, please let me know what you think! :)**

* * *

 _Tobias POV_

* * *

When Monday morning comes, I sit down at my desk in first period and place my books in front of me. I look around, and I am the first one here besides Ms. Matthews, who is standing with her back to the room, as she writes something on the board. That is not surprising; I am always the first one here because I am the only one that walks straight here instead of stopping to talk to friends on the way. Eventually though, other people start to walk into the room. Some alone and some talking to their friends. I look at the empty chair next to me, and I can't help but think of Tris immediately.

I still can't believe that I told her that I was cowardly enough to be doing my foster brother's chores. Then again, she seemed to be so scared of Uriah's party that she brushed over it pretty quickly. As I look back down at my books and start to open up my notebook, I can't help but think about how different she looked that night. It didn't seem like her style. But it was definitely intriguing.

"Hey." I look up, as she slides into the seat next to me, placing her books on the desk. "Good morning."

"Morning," I grumble in response. "How was the party?"

"Just as crazy as I thought it'd be," she sighs. "Did you know that Uriah and his brother set up a zip line in their backyard? Themselves?"

"Not surprising," I mutter. "Did you go on it?"

She chuckles. "Of course."

"Wow." I shake my head at her. "It's hard to believe that you lived to talk about it."

She shrugs, the smile still on her face. I watch her, as she opens up her own notebook. But before either of us can say anything else, I notice Molly and Drew walking in. I look up at them, and they both give me an ugly smirk as usual. But this time, instead of going straight to their place behind me, Drew stops briefly to drop a folded up paper in front of me.

"From Eric," he says.

Molly lets out an equally ugly laugh, as they continue to their desks behind me. Tris looks at me questioningly, and I look down at the folded up paper. I can't help but wonder what it could possibly be, but I realize that there is only one way to find out. I can still hear Molly snickering behind me, as I slowly pick up the piece of paper. I unfold it carefully, holding it so that Tris won't be able to see what it is. Once I have unfolded it, I see that it is a message written in pencil.

 _9 o clock tonight. I told you you'd be sorry._

"Okay, class," I hear Ms. Matthews call out. "Everyone settle down."

She starts the lesson, but I seem to tune her out without even thinking, as I stare down at the note. I keep trying to figure it out. What exactly it means, what exactly he is going to do. After all, he has never warned me before. I can only guess that that means he is planning something much worse than anything he has ever done.

I hear Tris say something next to me, and I realize that I forgot she was sitting there. I crumple the paper up and look at her, as she stares back at me.

"What does it say?" she whispers.

I shake my head and put the crumpled up piece of paper down next to my notebook. But I realize a second too late that that was a terrible idea. I realize it when she reaches over to snatch it. I try to grab it back, but she is too fast. I rest my head in my hand and sigh, as she starts unfolding the paper under the desk so that Ms. Matthews won't see. I watch her, as she looks down at the paper for one long moment. And finally, she looks up at me slowly. She stares at me for a moment, her mouth opening a bit as if she wants to say something. Until finally, she turns around in her seat to look back at Drew and Molly.

"Are you serious?" she says just loud enough for them to hear.

"Aww," I hear Molly say. And suddenly, I feel something hit the back of my head. "What's the matter? Can't fight your own fights?"

"What the hell is your problem?" Tris returns.

I groan internally, as I hear Ms. Matthews call her name. I knew that she had said that just a little too loud. I look at Tris who turns around in her chair, obviously still angry.

"Principal's office," Ms. Matthews says sternly. "Now."

I see her hesitate, as if she is going to say something in return, but she seems to decide against it. She glances at me, her jaw clenched with anger before she stands up and walks out of the room. She looks over her shoulder at me one more time before she leaves, and I can tell from that one look that she is not done talking about this yet.

* * *

As we sit together at one of the library tables, I quietly watch Uriah work on the problem that I just explained to him. I can feel someone watching me, so I look over at the front desk only to see Hana smiling over at us. Her smile widens when I look at her, and she nods at me before turning away to continue working.

"All right, I think I got it," Uriah says, sliding the paper back over for me to check it.

I look down at the paper, my eyes skimming his work. Of course, it is still riddled with mistakes. I look up at him just as he turns around, as if to check if Hana is still watching. When he sees that her back is turned, he looks back at me with urgency in his eyes.

"Okay, so what happened in first period?" he asks quickly.

"What are you talking about?" I ask.

"Well," he leans in a little, "everybody's saying you got Tris in trouble."

"How would I have..." I trail off and let out a sigh. "No, I didn't get her in trouble, it was just a misunderstanding."

"Didn't look that way," he says.

I look down at the paper, but I can still feel him watching me. I slide the paper back over to him.

"This is wrong."

He rolls his eyes before taking the paper back and looking down at it.

"It's Molly and Drew, isn't it?" he says. I look at him, confused, and he looks back at me. "I've seen them throw stuff at you. They're just a couple of idiots though."

"Why don't we focus-"

"Look, I'm just saying, you're helping me out," he says, gesturing toward his paper. "Maybe I could help you out. I've got friends all over the school, and they all know the deal about Molly and Drew. I could tell them-"

"You don't have to tell anyone anything," I cut him off. "I'm handling it."

He looks at me for a moment before raising his hands in defeat.

"Okay, man."

"Okay. Now, let's focus."

This time, he doesn't argue, as I show him how to correctly solve the problem on his paper.

* * *

I'm not quite sure how, but I managed to avoid Tris for the rest of the day. After all, I knew that she would just want to talk about the note that I got in first period, but it is the last thing I want to discuss. It isn't the first time that Eric has tried to scare me, and it certainly won't be the last. My only option is to ignore it and go on with my day.

With that in mind, I take my books out of my locker. I look around at all the students hurrying through the hallways to catch the bus. Of course, I am not one of them since I never take the bus.

"Hey," I hear someone say.

I look around only to see Lauren standing next to my locker. I can't help but feel a little confused since she never really interacts with me at school.

"Hey," I return. "What's up?"

"You can't come home today," she says urgently.

"What?"

"You heard me." She opens my locker all the way so that the door is out of her way, and she moves closer to me. "Eric is planning something. I don't know what exactly, but I overheard him talking to his friends. He's not just planning on forcing his chores on you or something stupid like that, he's serious this time."

"Look," I cut in. "I appreciate you looking out for me, but-"

"Look, Tobias," she snaps. "I'm serious. He's really gonna hurt you if you come home tonight." She looks around briefly and sighs. "Do whatever you want, just don't say I didn't warn you."

With that, she gives me one more look before she turns and walks away. I let out a sigh, as I close my locker. I look around again and notice that the hallways are more cleared out now. I start my walk to the front doors, thinking about what she said.

I highly doubt that Eric really has something terrible planned. Worst comes to worst, he is just going to push me around a little. The note was most likely just to scare me so that I would be wondering all day, but he has never seemed like the kind of person that would really plan something significant.

Still, a part of me wonders if I should take her warning seriously. I know that Lauren wouldn't have bothered coming to me if she didn't believe something was going to happen.

As I walk out the front doors, I see someone sitting at the bench where I usually sit. I can tell by her hair that it is Tris, and for a moment, I considering walking in the other direction to avoid her further. But it seems that she sensed me looking at her. She looks over her shoulder at me, and I know that if I turn around, she will just follow me anyway. So, I walk over to the bench and sit down next to her. I look down at my lap, but I can feel her watching me. There is silence for a moment. I look up only to watch the school buses start to leave the parking lot.

"You know you can't go home today." I look up at her, and she stares at me with concern. "You know that, right?"

I look at her for a moment, and it is almost as if the look in her eyes settles the debate that has been going on in my head since I read Eric's note this morning. I let out a sigh and run one of my hands through my hair.

"It's probably nothing," I mutter.

"It's not nothing," she says. "It's not going to be nothing. He said that you'll be sorry. He's going to hurt you."

"You don't know that."

"I don't have to. Are you really going to risk it?" We stare at each other for a moment, and I realize that I have no argument. "Why don't you come to my house?"

"I'm sure your parents would love that."

"They don't have to know," she sighs, looking down at her lap. "There's a couch in the basement, and they never go down there."

"Tris, I don't-"

"Would you rather get yourself hurt?" she snaps, looking at me with an intensity that I cannot quite place. "You don't really have a lot of options right now."

"You're making this a bigger deal than it is," I say, although I'm not sure that I believe that.

"No, you're not taking this seriously enough. He is _going_ to hurt you, Tobias. I think you know that, too." She shifts slightly to face me more. "Just come to my house. At least until you figure this out."

"Tris-"

"Be smart, Tobias."

I look at her, and she raises an eyebrow at me. I know that she is right, and that is what makes this so difficult. As much as I don't want to believe it, something gives me the feeling that Eric is serious. Still, it is so hard to admit that, and it is even harder to let Tris get involved in this. But I know that she will not rest, and she will force herself into this situation no matter how hard I try to push her out.

"If I come to your house tonight, will you give this a rest?" I mutter.

She nods, obviously relieved.

"Yes."

"Fine," I say, standing up. "Let's go, then."

* * *

The situation that I am in only seems to hit me when I am standing inside Tris' house, looking around at the family pictures hung on the walls. There is one of the entire family, one of Tris as a child, and one of a person who I guess is her brother. Luckily, I am able to look around rather than running straight into the basement; Tris mentioned on the walk here that her parents are both at work, and her brother usually stays after school for extracurriculars.

"We should probably go down to the basement now," she says, making me look at her again. "Just in case someone comes home early."

I nod at her, and she looks at me briefly before she turns and gestures for me to follow her. I follow her down a hallway and into another room where she opens up a door that leads into the basement. She glances back at me, as if to make sure I am still following her, before she starts down the stairs, and I follow after her. When she gets to the bottom of the stairs, she pulls on a string to turn the light on.

I look around. The basement isn't quite as finished as the rest of the house, but it does have a couch and a light, so who am I to complain?

"I know it's cold down here," she says. "I'll get you a blanket."

"No worries."

I look back at her only to find that she was already looking at me.

"So..."

Suddenly, I hear a noise coming from upstairs. We both seem to turn at the same time at the sound of the front door opening. I hear Tris curse under her breath before she looks back at me.

"Sorry," she says quickly.

And I only realize what she is apologizing for when she reaches up and shuts the light off, leaving us in complete darkness.

"Is that your parents?" I whisper, as I hear someone walking around upstairs.

"My mom, probably," she whispers back. "But she said she was going grocery shopping today, so she'll probably leave again."

We both stay silent, as we listen to her mother's footsteps upstairs. I can feel my heartbeat speeding up, as we stand there in the dark. It reminds me so much of my childhood, when my father would make me sit in my closet. Coincidentally, it also reminds me of the last time I ended up in the dark with Tris. It seems that she was thinking about that as well. A moment later, I feel her hand take mine.

"Are you okay?" she whispers.

My first thought is that I should pull my hand away, but I realize that holding her hand is calming my fear a bit.

"Yeah, why?" I whisper back.

"You're breathing hard." I groan internally at this. "Are you scared of the dark?"

"Maybe we should have this conversation when we don't have to whisper to each other in the dark."

She sighs, but she says nothing further. Still, I focus on my breath to bring it back to normal so that she won't have anything to comment on. Moments later, I hear the front door open again. And then, silence. Tris seems to hesitate for a moment before she turns the light back on. We look at each other for a moment before I pull my hand away from hers and look down.

"Tobias-"

"You should probably go get that blanket before someone else comes in."

"Okay," she says hesitantly. "I'll be right back."

I simply stand there, as she walks up the stairs, and I can hear her walking around upstairs. I let out a sigh, as I walk over to the couch and sit down. I rest my elbows on my knees and my head in my hands.

I cannot quite place why I seem to like holding her hand. I cannot place why I feel something strange every time she looks at me. But I do know one thing for sure. I know that it is going to get me into trouble.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hi, friends! Sorry I took a while to update, I've just been really busy. Hopefully you guys still care because you cared about the last chapter, which was awesome!**

 **Speaking of, thank you to 1991-Old-school-kid, BK2U, Guest, 09, Ane, leek812, Michaela46, Wrenlovesreading, GuiltyMind, Charms, Guest, Jollyjoy29, ItsReallyNotOkay, It'sHardIKnow, Guest, and Guest for your comments on the last chapter! I always appreciate your input!**

 **As always, please let me know what you think, and I'll try to update ASAP. :)**

* * *

 **Tris POV**

* * *

Sneaking Tobias out of my basement this morning was definitely a challenge. In fact, I woke up to Caleb frantically asking why there was a boy in the basement. Apparently, he had gone into the basement looking for one of his old research papers so he could settle a bet with Susan, but I managed to convince him not to tell Mom and Dad. I had to threaten to tell them about the time that Caleb had Susan over while they were out, but at least he didn't say anything.

My dad had already left for work, but I managed to distract Mom long enough for Tobias to sneak out of the house. Not without making her ask why I was acting so strange. Regardless, Tobias walked to school without me while I distracted my mom, but at least I know I will see him in first period. I just want to talk this out with him. There has to be a better solution than hiding him in my basement when he is threatened. There has to be something he can do about his terrible foster brother.

Surprisingly, when I get to first period, Tobias is not there. In fact, he only comes in just seconds before the bell rings. By the time he sits down, Ms. Matthews has already started talking. I look at him, and he only glances at me before he looks down and starts opening his notebook. I nudge him with my elbow and give him a questioning look, but he simply shakes his head and looks back down at his notebook.

And it is only then that I notice that Molly and Drew are particularly quiet today. When I chance to look back at them for a moment, I see that they are both staring down at their notebooks with their head in hand and a miserable look on their face. I can't help but feel a little relieved by the temporary break in their harassment. But that feeling of relief goes away when I turn back around and see that Tobias has the same miserable look on his face.

I find myself wondering what is going on, but I know that Tobias won't tell me anything now in the middle of class. So, I wait until the end of class, but the period goes by painstakingly slowly. And unfortunately, Ms. Matthews continues talking right up until the bell rings. So by the time she stops talking, Tobias has packed up all of his things.

"Wait," I say, as he pushes his chair back to stand up. "I want to talk to you."

"I don't have time," he mutters, as he stands up and picks up his things. "We'll talk later."

"Will we?"

He glances at me before he walks out of the room, leaving me alone. I let out a sigh, as I gather my own things and stand up.

"Hey." I look over my shoulder and see Uriah looking back at me. "You good?"

"Yeah, why?" I ask, as I start walking out of the room with him following me.

"Just wondering," he says with a shrug. "It seems like something's going on with you and that Tobias kid."

"I know it seems dramatic," I sigh, "but I'm just trying to be his friend."

"Yeah, well good luck," he says. "Every time I've ever seen that kid, he's by himself."

I stop next to the door where my next class is, and he stops and looks at me.

"What else do you know about him?" I ask before I can overthink it.

He looks at me for a moment before his lips curl into a smile. He chuckles a little and looks down for a moment before he smirks at me again.

"You like him."

Immediately, I feel a blush creep up on my cheeks, and his smile widens. I roll my eyes at him and pull my bag up on my shoulder.

"I'm just trying to be his friend," I say unconvincingly.

"Hey, you don't need to lie to me," he says, putting his hands up. "I get it, he has that misunderstood vibe-"

"Uriah-"

"All right, all right," he chuckles. "Fine. I'll tell you everything I know about the guy. Later, though. Can't be late again. I'll see you around though, okay?"

I nod at him, as he walks away to go to his own class. As I walk into my next class, I can't seem to get the conversation out of my mind. I have certainly felt drawn to Tobias since my first day at this school. There is something about him that makes me want to know more. That makes me want to make things better for him. Still, I never really thought about why I have those feelings.

After all, I've never been in a relationship. I'm sure a boy has never even had a crush on me before. Growing up getting made fun of by every boy I've encountered, I never really had a crush on one either.

Even as my teacher talks, I stare down at my notebook, unable to focus. I draw aimlessly all over the page in front of me, and I can't help but smile a little.

Is this what is feels like to have a crush?

* * *

Christina and I sit at the lunch table alone. Al and Will went to go get something, leaving the two of us here. I look at Christina, who seems to be very focused on her food.

"See, like..." She picks up a piece of the food on her fork. "What do you think this is?"

"Uhm, I don't know." She makes a face at the food before putting it back down. "Hey, can I talk to you about something?"

"Yeah, sure," she says, still not looking at me.

"Have you ever... had a crush on someone before?" I ask.

She looks up at me and smirks.

"Duh," she chuckles. "Why, you haven't?"

"Well-"

"Oh my god, do you have a crush right now?" she asks, suddenly much more interested. "Who is it? Do I know them? Have you-"

"I think maybe I do," I cut in. "But I don't think the person I like... likes me."

"The person..." she says quietly before leaning in a little and whispering. "Are you gay?"

"What? No, it's a guy," I say, feeling more uncomfortable about talking about this by the second.

"Oh." She looks away thoughtfully for a moment. "Well, why don't you try asking him out?"

"I don't know," I sigh. "It's more complicated than that."

"I doubt that." She smiles at me. She looks away, and suddenly her smile disappears. "Oh god, not again."

"Hey, girls!" I look up and see Peter smiling down at us. "Hope I'm not interrupting."

I immediately feel myself getting nervous, as Christina simply rolls her eyes at him.

"Go away, Peter," she says without hesitation.

"Well, that's rude," he says, his smile disappearing into mock offense. "I just came over to talk to the new girl."

My nerves increase as he looks directly at me, smiling slightly again.

"I feel like we got off on the wrong foot," he says. "I mean, it's not your fault that you look like a ten year old-"

"Go away!" Christina demands, louder this time.

"But anyway," he continues, "I figured I should come and talk to you because it's come to my attention that you're a friend of good old Tobias Eaton."

"So what?" I ask.

"So I'm good friends with his foster brother, Eric. And I happen to know that Eaton has gotten my friend into a fair amount of trouble. You wouldn't want him to get you into trouble too, would you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, but he wouldn't get me in trouble."

"See, I think that's where you're wrong. Because I know for a fact that Eric is pissed, and you can bet your nonexistent ass that he will do everything he can to get back at Eaton, even if that means messing with his ten year old girlfriend. So here's the deal, I'm giving you a chance to save yourself. All you have to do is stay away from Eaton, and you won't have a problem-"

"You're so fucked," Christina snaps, making me look at her. "You can't control who people are friends with. Just piss off, Peter!"

"Hey, don't blame the messenger," he says, raising his hands defensively before he looks back at me. "Think about it. The guy's not worth it."

Christina groans, as he smirks one last time and walks away. I watch after him for a moment, as he saunters back over to his table where Molly, Drew, and a few others are sitting.

"God, I hate him." I look back at Christina, as she stabs her fork into her tray.

"Should I be worried?" I ask.

"About him?" she asks. "No, he's all talk. Well, except for that time that he beat the crap out of that one kid... What was his name?"

"Wait, what?"

"Wait a second." She looks up at me, her eyes wide. "Is it Tobias Eaton? Is that who you have a crush on?"

I hesitate for a moment, but it seems that that was the answer she needed. She gasps at me before looking away thoughtfully.

"I didn't even know you guys were friends," she says. "I didn't even know he _had_ friends."

"Yeah, I guess we are friends."

"Damn... you're brave."

I roll my eyes at her.

"Seriously, should I be worried?"

"Oh, no," she says again. "Don't worry. Even if he tries something stupid, we're all here for you."

"What's going on?" Will asks, as he sits down next to Christina, and Al sits next to me.

"Well, Peter is stupid," Christina answers.

"As always," he interjects.

"And Tris has a crush!"

"Christina!"

"On who?" Al asks, almost eagerly.

"On-"

"Don't!" I cut in just in time.

She rolls her eyes before she looks at Will and starts describing the encounter with Peter. For a moment, I feel something strange. Like someone is looking at me. I look at Al, only to find that he was looking at me already, but he looks away as soon as I look at him. I try to focus on Christina, as she talks, but I can't seem to focus. I can't seem to get Peter's words out of my head.

* * *

By the time the day ends, my curiosity is killing me. I know that Tobias knows something, and I am aching to know what it is. Especially after Peter said that Tobias somehow got Eric into trouble.

As soon as I am done taking my books out of my locker, I say goodbye to Christina and start for the front door, hoping that Tobias will be at the bench where he normally is.

Luckily, as soon as I walk out of the front doors, I see him there. But I also see another girl standing in front of him and looking down at him. I watch as she says something to him before walking away and getting on one of the buses.

I walk over to the bench and sit down next to him. He looks up and looks back down when he realizes that it is me.

"Who was that?" I ask.

"My foster sister, Lauren," he mutters.

I nod at this. He sighs, as he looks away thoughtfully. I look where he is looking and watch the buses close their doors and start to leave the parking lot.

"So, will you tell me what's going on?" I ask.

He hesitates for a moment before he finally replies.

"He did have a plan," he says quietly.

I look at him again, as he runs a hand through his hair.

"What was it?"

"He was planning to pull a knife on me," he mutters. I feel my eyes widen at this, but he simply stares off in front of him. "He tried to steal a pocketknife from some store, but he got caught."

"Caught as in...?"

He looks at me solemnly.

"It's not his first offense," he says. "They're putting him in juvie."

I watch him for a moment, as he lets out a deep breath and looks away. Without thinking, I reach out and take his hand in mine, making him look at me again. But surprisingly, he doesn't pull his hand away.

"Tobias, he could have killed you. You have to tell your foster parent, you have to say something!"

"Tris," he sighs. "It's not that easy."

"Why not? How long will Eric be gone?"

"A couple months, I think," he says. "That's what Lauren said."

"Then you have a couple months to sort this out," I try again. "If you tell your foster parent now, then-"

"Tris, I really don't want to talk about this right now."

"Fine," I say. "We don't have to talk about this right now."

He looks at me, seemingly confused.

"What?"

"Usually you don't give up that easily," he says.

"Well, I suppose we have two months to talk about this. Right now, I just want to be here for you. So, we can talk about anything you want. Or we don't have to talk at all."

"Just for right now," he says, "I think I'd rather not talk at all."

I nod hesitantly, as I pull my hand away from his and pull my bag into my lap.

"You don't have to let go, though."

I look at him, surprised, and he looks back at me. I hold back a smile, as I take his hand in mine again. I move a little closer to him, as he looks down. I watch him for a moment, appreciating the feeling of his hand in mine.

"I'm gonna help you, you know."

"Yeah," he says to the ground. "I know."


	9. Chapter 9

**Oh, hi. So I'm just gonna apologize because this chapter is a little short, and I wrote it really fast because I've been super busy, but I still wanted to update for you guys. I hope you like it anyway, but I'm sorry if it's not the best!**

 **Anyway, thank you to BK2U, 1991-Old-school-kid, Charms22, velosewer, Naruisawesome, GuiltyMind, Wrenlovesreading, Lonelygirl702, and heyyy for your kind words, I appreciate your feedback!**

 **Please let me know what you think :)**

* * *

 **Tobias POV**

* * *

I wonder if this is what it feels like to just be a normal teenager. It has been about a week since Eric got sent to juvie, and surprisingly, none of his minions have bothered me since. Molly and Drew haven't even been throwing things at me. It's almost as if they're completely lost without their fearless leader.

What is even more surprising is that Tris hasn't pressured me to tell Amar what Eric has been doing. Sometimes, I can tell that she wants to say something about it. But she ends up talking about just about anything else. And I only say that because we have been talking a lot more lately. There's something about not having to look over your shoulder every five seconds that makes it a lot easier to open up and just act like everyone else.

"Don't just sit there." I look up, as Tris approaches me at the bench where I always wait for her at the end of the day. "Let's go to the park!"

"Dare I ask why?" I mutter.

She lifts her hands toward the sky and smiles.

"It's so nice out," she says, dropping her arms. "Come on! I've been waiting for it to get warm."

"I don't know. I have a lot of homework."

"It's Friday." She rolls her eyes. "Come on!"

She holds out her hand and stares at me, still smiling. I can't help but smile a little too. She obviously knows that I'm going to give in eventually. So I decide I might as well give in sooner rather than later. I take her hand and stand up. As we start walking, she releases my hand and loops her arm through mine. She starts talking about her day, but I realize that I can't really focus with her so close to me. I try to listen, and I do catch some of the things she is saying, but for the short walk to the park, all I am aware of is the feeling of her arm on mine.

"You're not listening," she says, as we stop in front of the park.

"Yes, I am," I lie.

"What did I say?"

She raises an eyebrow at me, and I roll my eyes.

"Okay, fine," I say. "I'm sorry, I was just thinking."

"About what?" she asks.

She starts walking again, and I follow her, trying to decide how to respond. After all, I was thinking about her. I didn't hear a word she said because I was thinking about her.

"Nothing really," I answer finally.

"I must be pretty boring if you chose nothing over listening to me," she smirks.

"Can we drop this? I'm listening now."

"Good," she says with a smile. "Do you wanna sit over there?"

I look where she is pointing, at a small lake in the middle of the park. All of the plants and flowers around it are still coming back to life, as it is just starting to get warm again.

"What's the difference between sitting here and sitting in front of the school?" I ask, as she sits down before even waiting for my answer.

"The view," she says simply.

I sit down next to her, as she looks around briefly before looking back at me and smiling.

"What?" I ask after a moment.

"I don't know." She shrugs. "It's just nice to have friends."

"Yeah," I say quietly. "I guess it is."

Her smile fades, and suddenly, she seems so much more serious.

"Have you ever had friends before?" she asks.

I pause for a moment, as I consider her question. I almost start to feel embarrassed, as I think of the answer. But I know that she's not the kind of person that would judge me for it.

"I guess I had a couple of friends here and there when I was younger," I reply. "But never anything too serious. What about you?"

"Same thing," she says, as she plays with a blade of grass. "I had one friend in my last school, but we didn't really hang out outside of school or anything. Actually, I think she only hung around with me in school because she liked my brother."

She looks at me and shrugs, and I look back at her, unsure of what to say. Since I've never really had any real friends, that means that I'm not very well versed in small talk, or any kind of conversation for that matter. So instead of saying anything, I just stare back at her until, suddenly, she starts to smile.

"What?" I ask.

"Nothing," she says, shaking her head. "I'm glad we're friends."

I nod and look down at my lap, but I can still feel her eyes on me. I hear her let out a sigh.

"Can I ask you something?" she says, making me look back up.

"Sure," I say.

She shifts uncomfortably, and this time, she looks down at her lap.

"Have you ever had a crush on anyone?" she asks.

I watch her, as she looks back at me almost shyly. I consider her question for a moment. Of course, I have found girls attractive, but I have never really been connected enough with anyone to really develop any kind of feelings. Until now, that is.

"Not really," I reply. "I can't really help you if that's what you're getting to."

"I think you could," she tries again. "I mean, you're a boy, so you know how a boy would react. How would you react if I told you I liked you?"

There is silence for a moment. Though I know that this is hopeless, I try to imagine it. How I would feel if Tris told me that she actually likes me. I have to admit that I feel something toward her, though I haven't been able to really determine what it is. I know that I feel closer to her than I've ever felt to anyone. And more importantly, I know that she is a kind and welcome presence in my otherwise dark existence.

I've never dated anyone. I'm not sure I would even know _how_ to date someone. But I do know one thing.

"Any guy would be lucky to be your crush," I say out loud, surprising myself.

I start to feel a little embarrassed, as she stares at me, also surprised. But a moment later, she smiles slightly.

"Do you really mean that?" she asks.

I nod, unable to say anything else. She smiles at me for another moment before she looks down and smiles at the grass instead. She twists one of the blades of grass around her finger.

"Do you think I should tell him, then?" she nearly whispers.

"What's the worst that could happen?" I say.

She shrugs her shoulders in response, as she continues to play with the grass. We sit in silence for another moment, but I can tell that she wants to say something more. I start to wonder who she is even talking about, but just as I am about to ask, my phone starts to ring. I pull it out of my pocket and see that it is a call from Lauren.

"Yeah?" I say, as I bring it to my ear.

"Where are you?" she asks. "Amar wants to talk to you."

"About what?"

"How should I know? Are you coming home?"

"Yeah, sure." I lower my hand and end the call before looking at Tris who was already looking at me. "Sorry, I need to go home."

"Oh, that's okay," she says. "I think I'm gonna stay here a little longer. See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, see you then," I reply, as I push myself off the ground and onto my feet.

Even as I walk away, I can feel her eyes following me for quite a while.

* * *

"Where is he?" I ask, as I walk into the living room where Lauren is sitting and watching the television.

She looks over her shoulder at me and points in the general direction of where he is.

"Upstairs," she says simply.

I nod and continue on my way to the stairs. When I get upstairs, I go to his room at the end of the hall and knock lightly on the door.

"Come in," I hear him say.

I open the door and let myself in. When I walk in, he is sitting on his bed with a book in his hands. He looks up and gestures for me to come over, so I sit at the end of his bed.

"Lauren said you wanted to talk to me."

"I do," he says. "I wanted to talk to you about Eric. About everything that's been going on. I know that you two didn't really get along very well, but I wanted to ask, was there anything before his arrest that you want to tell me about? Was he ever violent, or... Is there anything I should know about?"

He stares at me, waiting for an answer, as I try to choose my words carefully. For a moment, it seems so easy. It seems that he has asked the perfect question that would allow me to tell Amar exactly what has been going on. It would be so easy to tell the truth and let Amar handle it however he sees fit.

But then I remember that telling the truth could also make things much, much worse. If Amar finds out the truth and decides to punish Eric somehow when he gets back, I know that Eric will only get worse. And I don't want to know what the next step past shoplifting a knife to use on your foster brother is.

"I don't think so," I say finally. "He was just a normal guy. Nothing out of the ordinary."

He stares at me for another moment, and I can tell that he doesn't believe me. But he doesn't say anything. He simply nods and lets out a sigh.

"All right," he says. "That was it."

I nod at him and stand up. I try to ignore the feeling of him watching me, as I leave his room. And as I close the door behind me, I let out a deep breath. Because the entire time, all I could hear was Tris' voice in my head.

 _You have to say something._


	10. Chapter 10

**SO I really wanted to watch the new 13 Reasons Why but instead, I wrote this so I REALLY hope you guys like this lol!**

 **Anyway, thank you to 09, Charms22, fam, WittyBants, It'sHardIKnow, Guest, Guest, fourishot, Jojoboo90, and heyy for your kind words on the last chapter!**

 **I think you guys will like this chapter, here's hoping! Please let me know what you think! :)**

* * *

 **Tris POV**

* * *

Spending time with Tobias has been great. Little by little, he has started talking to me more and being more open. He is still pretty surly by regular standards, but I love that he has accepted me as his friend, and he seems happy to be spending time with me as well. However, it has been about three weeks since Eric got arrested. With every day that passes, I become more and more anxious for Tobias. Soon enough, Eric will be free again, and I can't even bring myself to think what Eric might do to Tobias when he gets out.

Still, Tobias doesn't seem to want to say anything to his foster parent. I understand. Of course, it was beyond difficult for me to open up to anyone when I was being bullied. But that knowledge doesn't make it any easier to watch him go through such a similar situation.

I just got home from spending time with Tobias. Today, we sneaked into the school's gym, and he taught me how to play basketball. I never play during gym class because I usually opt to run around the track instead. It was pretty fun, but he says I'm too short to really be good at it. And because of his ever-serious demeanor, I couldn't tell if he was joking or not.

"How was school?" my mom asks.

Now, I am helping her with dinner. I am cutting the vegetables while she cooks the chicken.

"It was all right," I say simply.

"Is that all?" she asks, looking at me momentarily. "Didn't you say you made friends? How are they?"

"They're good, and they're all really nice." She smiles down at the stove at this. "By the way, do you think I'd be able to go see a movie with them tomorrow? I know it's a school night, but it's the first night of this movie that Christina is really excited about."

"Hmm," she hums, still smiling. "I guess that'd be all right."

I can't help but smile down at the vegetables as well.

"Thanks," I say quietly.

"I'm just so happy that you've found a good group of people," she says, and I can hear her smiling. We look at each other, and I take comfort in the familiarity of her calming smile. "It's better this time around, isn't it?"

"It is," I reply. "This school is much better."

She smiles at me for a moment before she looks down at the chicken again.

"I'm glad," she says, still smiling.

* * *

Although the movie was pretty great, I have to admit that the best part about today was having friends to go to a movie with. I can't help but laugh, as we walk out of the movie theater while Christina raves about how much she loved the movie. She walks ahead of us with Will at her side while Al and I walk behind them.

"Oh my god!" She sighs. "And the choosing part! What do you think you guys would have been?"

She looks around at all of us, as we all silently consider this for a moment. The movie that Christina brought us to see was a movie about a dystopian world where everyone is split into five factions. Each of them seemed interesting, so I find it hard to choose one.

"I think I would be Erudite," Will says, smirking at us. "No, actually, I know I would."

"Nerd," Christina says, rolling her eyes.

"How very Candor of you," Will remarks.

Christina rolls her eyes and smiles, as we continue walking. The four of us fall into an easy conversation, as we walk home. That is, until we have to separate. We all say goodbye to each other and start to head our own separate ways.

"Tris!" I hear Al call after me before I have even taken more than a couple of steps. I stop and look back at him as he approaches me sheepishly. "Can you wait a second?"

"Sure," I say, though I'm not sure what is going on. I look around him at Christina and Will who continue to walk toward their houses before I look back at him. "What's up?"

"Well, I uh..." He clears his throat and smiles nervously. "Tonight was really fun, but I was wondering if you might want to do something one day. Just you and me, I mean."

He stares at me hopefully, and I immediately begin to feel nervous myself. I have never been asked out before, but I have to say it seems a lot like that is what is happening right now. I do care about Al, but only as a friend. Unfortunately, I'm not entirely sure how to get that across to him without hurting his feelings.

"Do you mean like a date?" I ask.

His smile widens.

"Yeah," he says shyly.

"Uhm, I don't know," I force out.

"What?" he says, his smile disappearing.

"I'm really sorry, I just... I like someone else."

He looks at me for a moment, as if he doesn't know how to respond before he nods and fakes a smile.

"Got it," he says. And it is only then that I realize that his eyes are tearing up. "No problem. I'll see you tomorrow, then."

He offers me one more fake smile before he turns and starts walking away. I think about calling after him, but I decide against it. There is nothing that I could say that would make him feel better.

* * *

It was only yesterday that I rejected Al, and he is already acting so strange. Today at lunch, I saw him talking to Peter. Christina and Will were just as confused as I was, but when he came to our table, he dodged all of our questions and gave as little information as possible. I'm not sure what would ever make him want to talk to Peter. I just hope that it doesn't have anything to do with what happened yesterday.

I try to push the thoughts from my mind, as I walk to the front of the school to meet Tobias. When I get there, I can't help but smile when I see that he is sitting at the bench as always. I sit down next to him, making him look up.

"Guess what," I say.

"I give up," he says with a smirk. "What?"

"There's gonna be a football game tonight!"

"Ah," he nods. "Yeah, I heard about that. Wouldn't think that you're a football fan though."

"I'm not really," I say, shrugging. "But Christina says it's more about school spirit and hanging out with people. And the party afterward."

"Well, that just sounds like a bunch of things that I don't care about."

"Oh, come on." I nudge his shoulder, making him look at me again. "It could be fun. Have you ever been to one before?"

"No," he says simply.

"Then come to one with me! Even if it's completely boring, at least we can hang out." I watch him, as he shrugs and looks away thoughtfully. "Please?"

He seems to think about it for a moment before he lets out a deep breath.

"Well, I know you're not gonna give up," he mutters, "so I guess I'll be there."

I can't help but laugh at this, and he smiles slightly before looking down at the ground.

"I'm glad," I say. He nods a little, still staring at the ground. "What's wrong?"

He looks at me as if he is surprised by the question and shakes his head a bit.

"Nothing," he says. "I just have to go home first, but I'll meet you at the game. Okay?"

"Okay," I say. "I'll see you there."

* * *

By the time I get to the football game, there are already tons of people sitting on the bleachers. It is a little overwhelming at first, and for a moment, I just stand there staring at the bleachers full of people cheering on our school's team.

 _This is what you wanted,_ I think to myself. _You wanted a normal teenage life._

With that, I take a deep breath and force myself to take the first step onto the bleachers. If I want to be a normal high schooler, I have to be willing to do things that make me uncomfortable. With each step up, the crowd seems to be louder and louder though. I look around, trying to find a familiar face, specifically Christina's since she said she would be here too. Just as I think of her, I feel my phone go off in my pocket. I pull it out and look at it to see that it is a text from Christina.

 _Almost there!_ it reads.

I let out a sigh, as I look around. Then, I do see a familiar face. I look toward the top and see Uriah sitting with a group of people who are talking and laughing. I start walking up to where they are before I can think about it too much. As I walk, Uriah seems to sense someone looking at him, since he looks at me and waves.

"Hey, Tris!" he calls out once I am close enough to hear him.

"Hey, mind if I sit with you?"

"No," one of the girls with blonde hair says with a smirk. "You're not allowed."

I hesitate for a moment, and Uriah seems to notice. He smiles and elbows the girl.

"Ignore Marlene," he says. "And don't sit next to her. She bites!"

They laugh, and I force a smile, as I sit down on Uriah's other side. Soon enough, the attention is off of me, and they all start talking among themselves again. Uriah glances at me before looking at the football field.

"So, you here by yourself?" he asks without looking at me.

"I was supposed to be meeting some people," I say. "But I guess they're all fashionably late."

"Is one of them your boyfriend?" he asks with a smirk.

I feel myself blush a little, and he grins at me. I roll my eyes, wishing my face would stop giving me away.

"He's not my boyfriend."

"Maybe not yet," he chuckles. "Isn't that him down there?"

I look toward the bottom of the bleachers and see Tobias walking toward the bleachers seemingly just as uncomfortable as I was. Before I can stop him, Uriah starts waving and yelling his name at the top of his lungs. I feel myself blush, as Tobias looks up and sees Uriah waving like a crazy person. I turn to Uriah, as Tobias starts walking toward us. He looks at me as well and smiles.

"Would you like us to leave you two alone?"

I roll my eyes, but I say nothing, as Tobias approaches and sits down next to me.

"Hey, man," Uriah says, leaning forward so that he can see Tobias. "Good to see you outside of school. Well, kinda."

Tobias nods at him and looks toward the football field. Uriah nudges me and smirks before turning away to talk to Marlene again. I look at Tobias, trying to figure out something to say.

"Do you like football?" I ask.

He shrugs. "My foster parent watches it, and I watch it with him sometimes. It's not bad. What about you?"

"I don't understand a thing about it," I say honestly.

He smiles just the slightest bit and looks at me.

"Why are you here, then?"

I shrug this time and smile back at him.

"The atmosphere."

He chuckles at this before watching the game again. As I look forward, I see Christina walking toward me with Will right behind her. She waves at me, and I wave back. When they finally make it to the top, they sit down in the row in front of us and turn around to talk.

"Sorry I took so long to get here," she says before glaring at Will. "Someone needed to be convinced to leave his house."

"I just wanted to study," Will says to me. "I have a very important test coming up-"

"It's Friday!"

"So?" Will says, looking genuinely confused.

Christina rolls her eyes.

"Anyway," she says. "We're here now. Who's your friend?"

"This is Tobias," I say, gesturing toward him. "And Tobias, this is Christina and Will."

"Nice to meet you," Christina says, smiling cheekily.

"And I'm Uriah!" Uriah pipes in, reminding me that he is right next to me. "I kinda know you guys because you come to my parties, but I don't know your names."

I can't help but laugh, as Christina and Will introduce themselves. For a while, we fall into an easy conversation. The entire time, I can't help but wonder what Christina is thinking since I know that she said I shouldn't really hang around with Uriah. But she seems pretty content sitting here and having a conversation with him. Either way, I'm sure she will let me know exactly what she is thinking as soon as she has a chance.

As we talk, I realize that Tobias has been quiet for a while. I turn to him while everyone else continues talking and nudge my shoulder against his to make him look at me.

"Are you okay?" I ask.

"Yeah, just watching the game," he says. "Why, did I miss something?"

"Well, they were just talking about the party tonight after the game. Would you want to go?"

"I don't think so," he says. "I'm not really a party person. But I'll walk there with you guys since I live right by Uriah."

"Fine. Maybe I'll spend the walk trying to convince you."

He chuckles. "It'll be a waste of your time."

I roll my eyes before turning back to everyone else. For a moment, I think that I feel his eyes on me. But I know I must just be imagining it.

* * *

I can't help but smile, as I walk down the street with Tobias, Christina, Will, Uriah, and Marlene. They are talking loudly and making jokes and laughing, as we walk to Uriah's house for the party. Our school won the game, so Uriah says that party is going to be crazy. I am a little nervous for that, but I have to admit that it feels so nice to just be a normal teenager with such fun friends.

"And tonight," Uriah calls out, as we approach his house, "we're jumping from the roof to the trampoline!"

"First one to break a leg wins!" Marlene grins.

"What about the zip line?" I ask.

"Ooh, good point! We'll jump from the zip line to the trampoline!"

I roll my eyes, as they start to walk toward the front door of Uriah's house. I stay standing on the sidewalk with Tobias so that I can say goodbye to him first. Christina looks at me over her shoulder.

"Are you coming?"

"Yeah, I'll be right there."

She smiles and gives me a knowing look before she follows the rest into Uriah's house. I turn to look at Tobias only to see that he was already looking at me. For a moment, we just stand in front of each other, looking at each other. A stranger might think that we are sizing each other up.

"I guess I'll see you on Monday, then," I say.

He nods, his eyes still locked on mine.

"I guess so."

There is silence for a moment, and I smile a little.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" I ask.

"Because it seems like you have something you want to say," he says in a matter-of-fact way. "I'm just waiting for it."

"I don't think you would like it," I mutter. "That's why I'm not saying it."

"I've had people say some terrible things to me," he says with a smirk. "There's no way someone like you could top it."

"Someone like me?"

"Yeah, someone so..." He shrugs. "Kind."

I look down for a moment so that my face will not give me away like it always does. I can feel him watching me, as I stare at the floor, willing myself to say something. Anything. I could just tell him right now. He's set me up for it. But I feel so scared. After all, I've never done anything like this before.

And that's when I realize, maybe it's exactly the right thing to do. I was so scared to start at a new school, but it is so much better than my old school. I was so nervous to go to a party, but I did, and I had a great time with my new friends. I was nervous to go to the football game, but now, I finally feel like a normal teenager for the first time in my life.

I just have to keep being brave. Maybe things will get better and better.

"Do you remember when I said I liked someone?" I say before I can stop myself. I look up at him just as he nods. "I was talking about you."

He stares at me for a moment, obviously surprised. I feel a nervous tingling in my chest. I can feel my heart beating against my chest. I find myself wanting to run and hide, but I force myself to stand there, to keep looking back at him, as he seems to process this. He looks down at the ground and takes a breath.

"What?" I croak. He shakes his head, still not looking at me. He says something but I don't quite hear it. "I can't hear you."

Still without looking at me, he says it again.

"I do, too."

"What do you mean?" I ask, my voice a whisper.

He glances up at me and sighs.

"I like you, too."

I feel a blush creep up on my face at the same time that I feel my heart start to beat faster. For a moment, I just stand there, trying to let the words sink in. I can't believe it. No matter how long I stand here, I know I won't be able to believe it. He looks up at me, almost nervously, and I realize that I have to say something.

"You do?" I ask. He nods wordlessly. "What do we do now, then?"

He looks past me thoughtfully for a moment before his eyes lock on mine again.

"Should I..." He clears his throat, and I can't help but feel a little relieved just for the fact that he seems just as nervous as me. "Should I kiss you?"

I feel my heart flutter in my chest, and I take a breath to steady myself.

"Do you want to?"

He nods. "That's what people do in a situation like this, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess it is," I say quietly. "You can kiss me if you want to."

He nods again and looks at me for a moment. I stare back at him, frozen where I stand. I watch him, as he moves toward me, as he slowly leans into me. My eyes find his lips, and I watch him until eventually, my eyes close. I take in a breath, trying to ignore the feeling of my heart pounding. I feel his fingers intertwine with mine. And then, I feel his lips on mine.

I have never kissed anyone before. And I'm sure that he hasn't either. But I find myself feeling so happy just for the fact that he is my first kiss. I can feel my head spinning, and I feel an unfamiliar warmth in my chest. Eventually, he pulls away, but he keeps his face close to mine, and I keep my eyes closed to enjoy the feeling. I can feel his eyes on me, and I can't help but smile a bit.

"You know this isn't going to be easy," he says.

I open my eyes, and our eyes lock on each other. I stroke his hands with my thumbs, and he squeezes my hands lightly.

"I know," I say. "I don't care."


	11. Chapter 11

**Hi friends! I'm so glad that you guys seem to be liking this so far! I especially love the "UPDATE" reviews. I'm trying, I promise! I'm just so busy all the time.**

 **Anyway, this chapter is the beginning of the action that, as one of you pointed out, this story definitely needs. That being said, if anyone who reads this is upset by the second part of this chapter, please message me, and I would be happy to talk to you about it. That goes for anything in this story: if at any point, something hits a little too close to home for you, always feel free to message me, and we can talk.**

 **Thank you to** **Guest, Guest, shybooklover09, ManhattanSky, wrenlovesreading, GuiltyMind, Chamrs22, Jojoboo90, Igor, 1991-Old-school-kid, It'sHardIKnow, Abnegation10, Guest, Guest, Sawyerrr, urock, and Guest for all your kind words! I really appreciate it!**

 **I also love how a couple of you have mentioned my other story "Broken Together" because honestly, I'm kinda proud of that story, and I'm so happy that it's still reaching people. Thank you for giving me feels :)**

 **Anyway, please let me know what you think of this chapter!**

* * *

 **Tobias POV**

* * *

Amar told me yesterday that Eric will be back home in two weeks. And honestly, I've been enjoying his absence so much that just the thought of his return felt like a hard slap in the face. Suddenly, the happiness that I had been finally experiencing just evaporated, leaving me with the regular fear and anxiety that I always felt while he was here.

Not surprisingly, the only times that I find myself smiling are when I am with Tris. I am not sure how, but when I am with her, she always finds a way to distract me from reality. Or maybe even to make reality seem better than it is. Whatever it is, I feel grateful to have her around, and even more grateful that she returns my feelings. After all, I have never really been attracted to anyone like this, and just admitting it to myself was terrifying. I'm not quite sure how I managed to admit it to her.

I look at her now. We are sitting together at a wooden picnic table in the park with our books spread out on the table. I watch her, as she scribbles down her work for one of the math problems. She is staring down at her notebook, her eyebrows slightly furrowed due to the sunlight seeping through the leaves of the tree that shades our table. I just watch her for a moment, completely forgetting about my own homework.

I think back to when we were first getting to know each other. I remember how she said that the bullying became so bad that she almost ended her life over it. I have certainly had similar thoughts before, but I cannot imagine actually going through with it like she almost did. Of course, I am grateful that she is still here, and that she was unsuccessful in her attempt to end everything. But more than that, I find her inspiring. We both went through such similar experiences. But the difference is, she made it out.

I wonder what that must feel like.

"Are you gonna do your homework," she asks without looking up, "or are you going to stare at me all day?"

She looks up at me with a smirk, and I look down at my own notebook nervously. She nudges my shoulder with hers, making me look up at her again.

"I'm just kidding," she says. "But seriously, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I was just thinking." She stares at me, and I know it is because she is waiting for more. "Just thinking about you."

"I'm right here," she smiles. "Why think about me?"

"I was just thinking about some of the things you told me when we first met. About the bullying." Her smile fades at this. "About the time you... brought the bleach home with you. Do you still think about that?"

She looks down for a moment, her fingers worrying over the pencil she is holding, before she nods a bit.

"Just about everyday."

"Well, I'm glad that your mom found you," I say. "You know, before you could actually do it."

She smiles just the slightest bit and nods again.

"Yeah, me too."

"You're happier now, aren't you?"

She looks up at me at this, and her smiles grows a bit. She moves closer to me on the bench and takes my hand in hers.

"Much happier," she says.

I look down at her hand and squeeze it lightly.

"That's what I was thinking about," I say. "I think it's pretty inspiring that you got away from all that. That you moved on, and you're doing better now."

"Don't you think that you can do the exact same thing?" she asks. "I got away from it all, and so can you."

"Maybe one day. But I don't know about right now."

"I do." She smiles. "It's sweet that you think I'm inspiring, but you inspire me too."

"Me?" I can't help but let out a humorless chuckle at this. "How?"

"You're so much braver than you realize, Tobias," she says. "I think that when the time is right, you're going to realize just how much strength you have in you. And then, you're going to use it. And _everything_ is going to change."

I look at her for a moment, unsure of what to say. After all, nobody has ever spoken to me like this before. But it seems like she doesn't need a response. She simply smiles at me and runs her thumb over my hand comfortingly. And before I can react, she shifts a bit and leans into me. I let my eyes close, as she kisses me, and I let myself enjoy the feeling of her lips on mine. Suddenly, she pulls away abruptly and looks up at the sky.

"Did you feel that?" she asks. I shake my head at her. "I felt a drop."

"That's impossible," I say. "It's so sunny today."

I pause for a moment, as I feel a drop of water on my own head. Then another. And eventually, the rain starts coming down, and she smiles.

"Not impossible," she says. "It's a sun shower."

"Huh." I mutter. "I don't think I've ever actually seen one."

"Of course not; you spend all your time inside!" I roll my eyes, as she looks up at the sky again. "I love sun showers."

"Why?"

She looks at me thoughtfully for a moment and smiles softly at me.

"They're a lot like you and me," she says. "Even though the rain is coming down, the sun keeps shining."

"How is that like you and me?" I ask.

"Well, no matter how much life throws at us, we stay strong. People have tried a million times to tear us down, but we just keep rising back up anyway. You and I are a lot like sun showers in that way. No matter how much rain we face, we always find a way to shine through." She smiles and squeezes my hand. "And now is our time to shine."

* * *

 **Tris POV**

* * *

Uriah is out sick today, so Tobias won't need to tutor him during lunch. Somehow, I convinced him to come and sit with my friends and me during lunch since he has the time. It wasn't easy, but I am so glad that he finally came around. My friends still don't know about Tobias and me, but I am hoping that if I tell them while he is with me, I will feel a little less nervous.

I told Tobias that I would be a little late to lunch since Al asked to meet me beforehand to talk. Even though it took him quite a while, I'm glad that he reached out. He is my friend, after all, and I don't want there to be any negativity between us. I'm glad that we will finally have a chance to just talk this out. He asked me to meet him on the auditorium stage, so that is where I am headed now. My phone goes off, so I pull it out of my pocket, as I walk down the hallway. I smile when I see that it is a text from Tobias.

 _Where are you?_ it reads.

 _Headed to the auditorium,_ I text back. _I'll be at lunch soon._

I put my phone back into my pocket so that none of the teachers see it, as I continue down the hallway. Eventually, I reach the auditorium. I decide to use the backstage doors since he wanted me to meet him on the stage anyway. I can't help but wonder if maybe he is going to have us sing a song together instead of talking, and I can't help but laugh internally just at the thought.

I let myself into the backstage area and let the door close behind me. It is just about pitch black in here since the stage lights aren't on. I begin to wonder if maybe he hasn't gotten here yet. Either way, it is a bit creepy just standing here in the dark, so I decide to wait in the hallway and text Al.

Just as I start blindly reaching for the door, I feel someone grab me. A gasp escapes my mouth before I feel the person put their hand over my mouth. I struggle against the person, but I am unable to free myself from their grip. I try to scream against their hand, but it just comes out as muffled noise that disintegrates into the air of this huge empty room. I thrash around as much as I can, but they don't let up.

And that's when I realize that there are not two hands on me. But four.

Panic begins to course through me. Is this some kind of sick prank?

"For fuck's sake, shut up!" one of them says, humor in his voice as if this is funny to him.

And that's when I realize, I know this voice. One of them is Peter. And just like that, panic and rage begin to mix together and cause me to thrash around even more.

"You gonna do anything, or you just gonna stand there?" Peter says to the other person.

I try to scream again, but it just comes out muffled again. I feel tears welling up in my eyes.

 _What is happening?_ my mind keeps screaming. _What is happening?_

"Come on, you can do something," Peter says. "Look!"

I feel the color drain from my face, as one of the four hands grasps onto my chest. I scream at the top of my lungs. But nobody can hear me. The tears start to fall from my eyes. I squeeze them shut, hoping that when they open again, I will be in my bed, and this will all just be a nightmare.

"Wow," I hear Peter chuckle, as he grasps at my breasts. "I guess you are old enough to be here, after all."

I feel the person holding me yank me away as if I am a rag doll that they are trying to keep away from their little sibling.

"Knock it off!" the other person hisses. "That's not what we're here for."

I freeze for a moment, as I place the other voice.

Al. My friend, Al.

Before I can even let out another scream, I hear the backstage door open. I feel my heart racing.

 _Please, not a third person,_ my mind cries.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I hear someone yell.

 _Tobias._

I cry out in relief, as I feel the person holding me get torn away. The impact makes me feel on my hands and knees. I look up. The backstage door is open now, which means that the light from the hallways gives me a perfect view of Tobias holding Al by his shirt. I watch, frozen, as he brings his arm back and punches Al square in the face, a look of anger on his face that I have never seen before. Al falls to the floor before he pushes himself to his feet and runs away as fast as he can. Still frozen, I watch as Peter scampers out of the auditorium before Tobias can even look at him.

I watch, as Tobias stands there for a moment, staring at the floor where Al had fallen. He simply stands there, panting for a moment, before he looks down at me. For quite a while, we just stare at each other, both of us in shock. Neither of us speak. Neither of us move.

But both of us know. The rain has begun.


	12. Chapter 12

**Wow, look at me updating so fast! What a gal!**

 **Ok seriously, so idk if you guys will consider this a spoiler, but I'm just saying it because I feel like someone's gonna ask: This is the last chapter before the return of the devil, so stay tuned!**

 **ALSO has anyone seen Adrift? Holy shit! That movie tore my f**king heart out. Shailene was so amazing in it! I miss her as Tris, but it's good that she's moved on to equally awesome roles!**

 **Anyway, thank you to Guest, Sawyerrr, urock, Guest, GuiltyMind, jvoosen, Guest, Charms22, Wrenlovesreading, Guest, Guest, Abnegation10, Jojoboo90, 1991-Old-school-kid, and ManhattanSky for all your kind words. You guys are fantastic.**

 **Please let me know what you think of this chapter :) Your opinions fuel me to write faster haha ;)**

* * *

 **Tobias POV**

* * *

Something feels wrong. I can't quite place it, but something seems wrong. I walk down the hallway, my phone in hand. Tris just told me that she is going to be meeting her friend, Al, in the auditorium. Of course, she's told me about what happened with Al. So, as soon as she told me that they were going to have a talk, my mind started coming up with the worst possible scenarios.

I continue down the hallway towards the auditorium. I figure that if Tris asks me why I am there, I will just say that it was easier to meet her there than the cafeteria. But in reality, I just want to make sure that Al doesn't do anything stupid.

As I walk, I hear a strange noise coming from down the hallway. But I can't place exactly where it is coming from or even what the noise is. But then I realize that with every step I take toward the auditorium, it gets louder and louder. I start walking faster until I reach the door to the backstage area. I can tell that the noise is coming from inside.

I open the door and freeze for a moment at the sight in front of me. Peter looks at me, as I look from him to the other boy who has his back to me, but I can tell from here that he is holding Tris still. I feel my blood start to boil, as I realize exactly what they are doing.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I yell almost instinctively.

Suddenly, everything seems surreal. I grab the second boy, who I assume is Al, and pull him away from Tris. My anger courses through me with an intensity that I have never felt before. Before I even know what I am doing, I have punched Al in the face. I watch him fall, and I feel my body start to move toward him, but somehow I manage to stop myself. I watch him, I take in the fear in his eyes, as he pushes himself to his feet and runs.

I can tell from the silence that they are both gone. But I just stand there, panting, staring at the spot. Staring at the place where I saw the fear that I'm sure was in my own eyes when my father would hurt me.

I look at Tris. She is still on her hands and knees, staring at me with the same fear in her eyes. And suddenly, through the adrenaline that is making my entire body shake, I feel shame course through me.

I couldn't control myself. I have been working so hard, trying so actively to be nothing like my father. Yet here I am, with an aching hand, and a boy's terrified face burnt into my brain.

"Tobias," Tris whispers, as she slowly pushes herself up.

"Are you okay?" I blurt out before she can say anything else.

"I don't..." She shakes her head a bit and looks down. "I don't know."

"Okay, well..." I trail off, as I try to put the words together in my head, but nothing seems to come together.

My mind seems to be going in a million different directions. But above all, there is one thought that rises above everything else.

 _I'm just like him,_ my mind says over and over again.

I look down at my hands only to see that they are still shaking. And when I look back up at her, I can tell that she noticed too.

"Do you-"

"Tris, I'm sorry," I say as steadily as I can. "I know that you probably need me to be here right now, but I just... I need a minute."

I turn and start for the door, but I hear her behind me.

"What? No!" I stop as I feel her hand grab onto my arm. "Please, don't go."

"Tris, don't-"

"Don't go," she says again. "I know what you're thinking, but please don't go."

"You know what I'm thinking?" I turn to face her, and her hand falls from my arm. "How could you possibly know what I'm thinking?"

"Tobias, I may not know everything there is to know about you, but I'll be damned if I don't know why you act the way you do."

"You don't-"

"You're afraid of violence." I look at her only to see that her eyes are welling up. "I know you are. You know how I know? Because anyone else in your place would have killed Eric by now."

She reaches up to wipe away a stray tear, and I look down, unable to watch her crying for some reason I can't quite grasp.

"But not you," she says, her voice shaking a bit. "That's not you. And this, what you just did, that's not you either. Tobias, look at me."

"I can't," I mutter.

She brings her hand to my chin and gently pushes my head up so that I am forced to look at her.

"You did what you had to do," she says. "That's it."

"Maybe," I mutter. "I don't know. I think I just need a minute."

I turn away from her and start to walk away, but she grabs my arm again. I stay still, staring at the door. And I realize that if it was anyone else, I would just pull away and keep walking. But it's her, and I can't. I just stand there frozen for a moment and listen to her take a shaky breath.

"I know this is hard for you," she says quietly. "But please stay. Please stay with me."

And as soon as the words leave her mouth, I know that I don't have a choice. She slowly lets me go, her fingertips grazing my arms, as if she is leaving me free to decide whether I will stay or not. I turn around and look at her, at her tear-filled eyes. For a moment, we just look at each other. After all, I am not entirely sure what to do. I know that she must have been scared, but I have no idea how to make her feel better. I have no idea what I could do to comfort her.

"Come here," she says softly, as if she was reading my mind. "Please."

I do as she says and walk toward her. She takes a step to meet me, and when the space is closed between us, she wraps her arms around me and rests her head on my chest. I put my arms around her as well, trying to remind myself that as much as I want to run away and hide, she wants me here.

"Tobias?" she whispers.

"Yeah?"

There is silence for a moment, and I feel her take a deep breath.

"He touched me." And just like that, I feel my blood start to boil all over again. The only thing that keeps me from acting is the feeling of her in my arms. "Not the way you think, just..."

She trails off and shudders. I bring one of my hands to her head and run my hand over her hair.

"You don't have to explain anything to me," I say. She nods a bit against my chest. "You never should have talked to me."

"What?"

She pulls back just enough to look at me, and I look away, unable to meet her eyes.

"If you hadn't befriended me, you wouldn't be a target. They wouldn't be bothering you if-"

"Don't," she cuts in. "Don't say that ever again."

Before I can say anything, she embraces me again. And though I'm not sure if I should, I let her.

* * *

 **Tris POV**

* * *

"Are you serious?" Christina says, as I lean against the locker next to hers. "Oh my god... I can't even imagine him doing something like that."

"I know," I say. "I didn't see it coming at all."

"Well, at least now we know what he's really like," Will says from his place on Christina's other side.

"Yeah, I guess," I mutter.

"Tris." I turn around and find myself frozen, as I realize that Al is standing right in front of me. "Can I-"

"You really think you can talk to me?" I say, almost taken aback by my sudden confidence despite his presence. "After what you did?"

"I didn't mean..." he sputters, his eyes welling up. "It wasn't supposed to be like that. He said we were just gonna scare you, I didn't know he was gonna-"

"I don't want you near me anymore," I say as steadily as I can. "Stay away from me."

"Tris, please, I-"

"You're a coward."

He looks around, and I realize that a few people passing by have started paying attention to our interaction. He takes a breath as if he is trying not to cry before he turns and walks away quickly. I can feel Christina and Will watching me, but it takes a moment for me to turn around and face them again. When I finally do, I see them staring at me, seemingly worried.

"Are you okay?" Christina asks hesitantly.

I nod, though I am not sure if I even know the answer to that question.

"Fine."

* * *

It was nearly impossible to make it through dinner with my family. All I could think about was Al covering my mouth so that I couldn't scream, Peter grabbing me in a place where no one has ever touched me before. And when I wasn't thinking about that, I was thinking about the fact that today is the first day that Tobias didn't wait for me at our bench at the end of the day. I sat on the bench and waited, and he never showed up.

Now, I lay on my bed, my arms and legs curled around my body pillow, trying desperately to get today out of my mind. But it seems that the more I try to forget it, the stronger the memories become.

I jump and sit up, as I hear a sound at my window. I can't help but gasp a little when I see Tobias, clutching onto the tree outside my window. I push myself out of bed, run to the window, and open it as fast as I can.

"Are you crazy?" I say, as I help him climb into my room. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to talk to you," he says once he is on his feet. I watch him, as he takes a deep breath and looks around my room. "I know you're not going to like it, but we need to talk."

"About what?" I ask nervously.

He stares at me for a moment, and I realize that this is the first time that I have seen him actually upset. I have seen him sullen, nervous, angry, and happy. But I have never seen him sad until now, and the look on his face hurts my heart. He looks around for a moment, and I make a guess that it is because he doesn't want me to see it. Finally, he looks down and lets out a deep breath.

"I came to say goodbye," he says quietly.

I stare at him for a moment, waiting for more, but he says nothing else. My heart begins to hurt even more.

"Where are you going?" I whisper.

"I don't know," he says without looking at me. "Wherever life takes me."

"You're running away?" He finally looks up. He says nothing, but the look on his face is an answer in itself. "Are you insane?"

"What else am I supposed to do? You said it yourself, Tris. Eric was going to kill me. Imagine what he's going to do when he gets back." I stand there, unable to speak, as he shakes his head and looks around again. "And now- now they're going after you, too. That's because of me. You won't say it, but it is. If you hadn't started talking to me, you would have been fine. If I leave, they'll stop bothering you. If I leave, we can both be free from-"

"Stop," I cut in, feeling tears form in my eyes. "You think I care? I don't. I don't care what they do to me, I care about you!"

"Tris-"

"Don't leave me," I say, my voice starting to shake. "Please, don't leave me here."

"You don't need me," he snaps, and it is only then that I realize that his eyes are glassy too. "Look at me, I don't even know how to be in a relationship! You're about to cry, and I don't know how to comfort you-"

"I don't need you to comfort me. I need you to be safe." He looks at me sadly, as I wipe away a stray tear. "We have to do something. Anything. Things can't just stay like this."

"This is the way things are," he says.

"That doesn't mean it has to stay this way!"

"Tris, that's wishful thinking-

"It's not wishful thinking!" I cry. "If I got away from it, so can you."

"I'm not as brave as you," he mutters.

"I almost killed myself, Tobias! I'm not brave!"

He looks at me for a moment, obviously shocked. I lower my head and bring my hands to my face, as I shudder. I gasp out, as I wipe the tears off my face. My mind is going in so many different directions, I can't even figure out a way to pull myself together.

After a moment has passed, I feel him take my wrists in his hands and pull them away from my face, but I keep my head down anyway so that he can't watch me cry.

"You are brave," he says. "Giving life a second chance is as brave as it gets."

I look up at him, as he releases my wrists.

"If you really believe that, then stay here and be brave with me."

He sighs and looks away, as he runs his hand through his hair nervously.

"Tris-"

"We're gonna do something," I say. "We'll figure it out together. Do you trust me?"

"Of course," he mutters.

"Then don't leave me."

He looks at me wordlessly, and I feel myself getting more and more nervous with every second that passes. Because I have said all that I can say. And I know that if he still really wants to leave, he is going to. He reaches for my hand, and I let him take it.

"All right," he says. "I won't."


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey guys, please excuse any typos in this chapter, and if you see any please let me know! I'm super exhausted and busy, but I still wanted to write this chapter.**

 **Anyhow, thank you to Guest, It'sHardIKnow, Charms22, Wrenlovesreading, GuiltyMind, jvoosen, Guest, ManhattanSky, Guest, fourcute, WriterGirl001, LanaTobiasFailAtWriting, 1991-Old-school-kid, Guest, Jojoboo90, and leahchan23 for your kind words! It's always appreciated!**

 **Also, thank you to ManhattanSky! Idk why but your comments always make me so happy lol!**

 **Anyway, enjoy! Please let me know what you think. :)**

* * *

 **Tris POV**

* * *

I sit on the picnic table and watch, as Tobias paces back and forth. Eric will be back tomorrow, so we decided to spend some time at the park to come up with some kind of plan. I don't want to say it, but it seems nearly hopeless. He won't fight back, and he won't tell his foster parent. It seems impossible to come up with any other options. He stares at the ground thoughtfully, as he paces back and forth in front of me.

"Anything?" I ask.

He sighs and shrugs his shoulders.

"I don't know," he says. "I can't think of anything."

Suddenly, he looks up at me and lets out another sigh, as he walks toward me. He stands in front of me. I reach for his hands and hold them in my lap.

"Maybe I should just..." he trails off.

"What?" I ask.

"You know, accept what's coming to me."

"Tobias-"

"Well, what can I do?" he mutters. "I'm not gonna fight him, and I'm not gonna tell anyone."

"Why not fight him?" I ask. "I know you're not a violent person, but maybe-"

"I'm not gonna fight him," he cuts in shortly.

We look back at each other for a moment before I finally nod at him. He starts to pull his hands away a bit, but I tighten my hold on them to keep him here.

"Then, we have to come up with something else," I say.

"There is nothing else," he mutters, as he looks down at our connected hands. "May as well just enjoy the time I have until he gets back."

I watch him for a moment, as he stares down at our hands. And although I have been bullied and harassed nearly to death, this is the moment that makes me feel weaker than I have ever felt. Because there seems to be nothing that I can do. All I want to do is help keep him safe, but there doesn't seem to be any options.

"Maybe you're right," I say, making him look up. "Let's enjoy today."

He nods a bit, his eyes never leaving mine. Before I can think about it too much, I bring one of my hands to his cheek, and his free hand unconsciously rests on my knee. I lean into him and close my eyes, as I press my lips to his. He moves his hand from my knee to my waist, and I feel a tingling sensation in my stomach. The moment feels so bittersweet. I love being so close to him like this, but I know that after today, everything is going to be difficult. These little moments will be so hard to come by. They may not even matter anymore.

He pulls away after a moment, but leaves his forehead resting on mine.

"Tris," he says softly, making my eyes open. "I'm gonna do everything I can to keep you safe, you know."

I nod a bit and stroke his hand with mine.

"I know."

He pulls away, still looking at me, before he looks down at my phone which is resting on the table. He presses the button to check the time, and he lets out a sigh.

"I need to get going," he says. "Can I walk you home?"

I nod at him, and he looks at me for a moment before he releases me. I push myself off the table and reach for his hand. He lets me take it, and we start walking together. We do not talk much on the way, but the walk isn't very long anyway. We both seem to be too lost in our own thoughts to vocalize any of them.

"Tobias," I say, as we approach my house. We stop on the sidewalk in front of my house, and I turn to look at him. "Can you promise me something?"

"What is it?" he asks.

"I know that things are going to be different when he comes back. But promise that you won't distance yourself from me. Promise you won't leave."

He looks at me hesitantly for a moment before he finally nods.

"Okay," he mutters. "I promise."

I nod back at him before reaching out to wrap my arms around him. He returns the embrace, and we hold onto each other for a bit longer than usual. When we finally let go of each other, he looks at me for a moment before saying goodbye and walking away. I watch after him for a moment before I walk to the front door of my house and let myself in.

"Bea, is that you?" my mom calls from the kitchen.

"Yes," I call back. "I'm just putting my things down, and then I'll come back down to help you with dinner."

"Take your time," she says.

I walk up the stairs and to my room, closing the door behind me. I drop my backpack on the ground and sit down on my bed, as I look down at my phone. I know that Tobias might hate me for what I am about to do, but I do it anyway. I would rather him alive and mad at me that injured or worse.

I bring the phone to my ear and wait, as it rings a couple of times.

"Hello?"

"Hey," I say. "Uriah, it's Tris. We need to talk."

* * *

Tobias barely spoke to me before or after first period today. But Molly and Drew seemed more than happy to start throwing things at the back of Tobias' head again. I'm relieved that I decided to talk to Uriah, it gives me hope that maybe Eric won't be able to do as much damage as he planned. I haven't told Tobias that I talked to Uriah. I don't know how he would react, and frankly, I don't want to find out just yet.

I look up from my locker, as Al passes by, his eyes on the floor. I close my locker and watch him, as he walks down the hallway. I am not sure why, but something tells me that he is planning something else. He must be, his only friend now is Peter, and I can tell that Peter wouldn't miss the chance to pull something else.

I close my locker and start following him from a distance so that he will not notice me. Luckily, I was only headed to lunch, so I have time to see where he is headed. I follow him from one hallway to the other, I follow him nearly across the school. Until finally, he lets himself into the auditorium. I stop for a moment and think. I can't just waltz into the auditorium after him. I have to stay hidden.

With that in mind, I rush around the corner and to the side door of the auditorium, which leads to the side wings so that he won't be able to see me. I let myself in and close the door behind me slowly so that it won't make a sound. And as I walk into the wings, I hear a voice from the other side of the auditorium. Slowly, I peak around the corner so that I can see, and when I do, I see Peter, Al, and someone else who has their back to me.

"That's it?" I hear the third person say. "So you didn't do anything."

"Oh, come on, Eric," Peter groans. "You said that _you_ wanted to take Eaton down, why would we mess with him? At least we messed with his girlfriend a little!"

Al looks down at this, seemingly upset.

"Well, we need to do more," Eric says. "We need to get serious."

"Fine," Peter shrugs. "Then, what's the plan?"

"I gotta be careful," Eric says. "I'm still on probation. But you two aren't."

Al looks up at this, surprised, as Peter smirks.

"We have to step it up," Eric continues. "I've been messing with Eaton since he moved in, and nothing's changed. We need to do more."

"We will do more," Peter says. "Eaton can be all yours. Al and I'll mess with his girlfriend."

"You really think that'll get to him?" Eric asks.

"You should have seen him when he caught us messing with her last time," Peter says, as if he is telling a joke. "Trust me. We mess with her, he cracks."

Before they can say anything else, I go back to the door and let myself out. Once I am out, I press my back against the wall of the hallway and stare at the wall across from me. I breathe in and out, but it feels hard to breathe. I look down only to see that my hands are shaking.

Tobias warned me that this would be difficult, but I didn't realize how terrified I would be once they started to target me. It is still impossible for me to rid myself of the memories of Al and Peter holding me and grabbing me. I still have nightmares of two men attacking me. And now, they are planning to do even more. I press the palms of my hands to the wall behind me, trying to steady myself. I stand there, trying not to think about what they might do now. Trying to stop all of the memories that are trying to rush back into my mind.

But I fail.

* * *

 **Tobias POV**

* * *

Tris told me during gym today that we need to talk, and I'm sure that it has something to do with Eric. I don't really want to have this talk, but I know that she will be waiting outside for me anyway, so I can't really avoid her. Still, Eric hasn't bothered me all day. And besides Molly and Drew throwing things at me, his friends haven't really done anything either. I can only hope that that means that he will lay off.

I start walking down the hallway on my way to meet Tris outside at the end of the day. The hallways aren't quite as packed anymore since I waited a little while before going to talk to her. As I walk, I start to get the feeling of someone watching me. Just as I am about to look over my shoulder, I feel someone grab me from behind and pull me into the men's bathroom that I was passing.

I am caught off guard, and they manage to pull me into the bathroom and push me against the wall. And it is only then that I see three people in front of me.

Drew, Peter, and Eric.

Drew and Peter stare back at me, as Peter moves to lock the bathroom door.

"Miss me?" Eric says with a smirk.

"Whatever you're about to do," I mutter, "can we make it fast?"

"The man said 'make it fast'," Peter says, as he takes a step toward me.

"Hold on," Eric cuts in, holding out his hand to stop Peter without looking away from me. "It seems like our friend here doesn't understand the situation he's gotten himself into."

"I understand," I say. "I just don't care what you do to me anymore."

"Oh, you don't?" Eric smirks. "I bet you care about that girlfriend of yours."

I look at him for a moment, and I can tell from the look on his face that he knows he has gotten to me. What I said was true. I don't care what he does to me. He can't do much worse than what he has been doing. But I do care about Tris. I knew that she would eventually face consequences for being close to me. But the thought of Eric even looking at her makes me sick.

"That's what I thought," he says. "So here's what's gonna happen. Today it's you. Tomorrow it's her. Now."

Before I can react, Peter and Drew move to grab me while Eric simply stands there and watches. I try to push through them to get to the door, but they manage to pull me back. I try to get away from them, but I can't without fighting them. And I refuse to hit anyone again. Which means that I am the one that gets hit. Over and over again.

And throughout the entire attack, through all the pain, all I can think about is what Eric said.

Tomorrow it's her.


	14. Chapter 14

**Hi, friends! Sorry, I've been busy as usual, but I really am trying to get this story done. This chapter is a little short, but expect more in the next chapter!**

 **BIG thank you to Guest, GuiltyMind, Charms22, Wrenlovesreading, Strangerdivergentthings, 1991-Old-school-kid, ManhattanSky, jvoosen, urock, Guest, Jojoboo90, Chanelx, Katt1848, and It'sHardIKnow. I always appreciate your feedback!**

 **Anyway, please let me know what you think :)**

* * *

 **Tobias POV**

* * *

 _Once Eric finally got done with me, I continued on my way to meet Tris. I couldn't just let her leave, not without letting her know about what Eric said. Luckily, there was no one in the hallways at this point. There was no one around to see my cuts and bruises. I walked through the front door, and I saw her sitting at the bench with her arm on the arm rest and her head in hand. I walked to the bench and sat down next to her, as she stared down at her phone._

 _"I've been sitting here forever. Where..."_

 _She trailed off, as she looked up at me, and her eyes widened a bit._

 _"What?" I said._

 _"What? What do you mean, what?" she sputtered, sitting up a little more and moving to face me. "Tobias, what happened to your face? Was it Eric?"_

 _"Tris, calm down," I muttered. "And don't act like you didn't see this coming."_

 _"Tobias..." She shook her head and scoffed. "Your lip is bleeding."_

 _I touched my fingertip to my bottom lip and looked down at it, and sure enough, I saw the blood on my finger._

 _"It's nothing," I muttered to the floor._

 _"That's not nothing-"_

 _"Look, I need to come to your house," I said, looking back up at her. "I can't go home like this. I just need to clean up."_

 _She stared at me for a moment, her mouth slightly open as if she wanted to say something. She shook her head a bit, obviously upset._

 _"Of course. You can come over, but-"_

 _"Okay, then let's go."_

 _She grabbed my hand to stop me, as I started to stand up. I looked at her, and she stared at me, her eyes glassy._

 _"Tobias, stop," she said urgently. "Don't act like this didn't happen. He hurt you. The evidence is on your skin. You have to say something. Now!"_

 _"Tris-"_

 _"Please, I don't like this," she said, her voice shaking a bit. "I don't want him to hurt you anymore. Please."_

 _I stared back at her for a moment, feeling pained from her words and the look on her face. I turned to face her, and I took her hand in mine, as she used her other hand to wipe away a tear that didn't even get a chance to fall yet._

 _"Look, I'm gonna be fine-"_

 _"You're not fine," she nearly whispered, her voice shaking. "You're_ not _fine."_

 _"Tris..."_

 _I found myself reaching up and wiping one of her tears with my thumb almost instinctively. Once I lowered my hand, I stared at her for a moment, wondering what had possessed me to do that._

 _"Tobias, I'm sorry," she said softly. "But if you won't tell someone... I will."_

 _I looked at her, as she looked up hesitantly. She gave me a pained look, as I started to pull my hands away from hers._

 _"Why would you do that?" I asked. "You know that that would only make things worse."_

 _"There's no other options," she said. "At least if someone knows, we can get you some help-"_

 _"Unbelievable."_

 _I looked away, but I could feel her staring at me. And as soon as I felt her touch my arm, I stood up and started walking away, anger fueling my every step._

 _"Tobias, please," she called out, but I didn't stop. "I'm just trying to keep you safe. Please."_

 _She didn't say anything else. But I felt her eyes on me, as I walked further and further away._

* * *

I hear a knock at my door, just as I have finished getting dressed. I straighten my shirt, as I walk to the door and pull it open. Luckily, it is just Amar. He looks back at me, seemingly worried. I calmed him yesterday when I came home by saying that the cuts and bruises were from falling down the stairs. Something tells me he didn't believe it, but he didn't question me too much.

"Feeling any better, Four?" he asks.

I shrug my shoulders at him, but he looks at me as if he is waiting for more.

"I'm fine," I mutter. "Just getting ready for school."

"All right," he says. "Well, if you wanna talk later, just let me know."

I nod at him, and he looks at me for a moment before nodding back and walking away. I roll my eyes, as I close my door and finish getting ready. Once I am done, I walk to school as usual. The only difference is that I find myself looking over my shoulder far more often. But I decide that I shouldn't worry. Eric wouldn't get up any earlier than he has to, not even for me.

Once I get to the school, I immediately start looking for Tris. I may be annoyed with her, but I still care about her. And that is why I need to let her know that she may not be safe today. I am hoping that Eric was just bluffing, but it's not safe to assume.

Eventually, I see her, standing in front of her locker, Uriah at her side. I approach them, as they seem to talk to each other. Tris glances up and does a double take when she sees me coming before she turns to say something to Uriah who promptly nods his head and walks away. She returns her focus to her books, as I come to stand next to her.

"Tris." She doesn't look up, as she pulls another book out of her locker. "Look, I know you're mad at me, and I'm mad at you, but this is important."

"What?" she mutters, finally looking up. "Did you come to tell me you're running away again?"

"No." I roll my eyes and grab her arm as she reaches for another book, making her look up at me. "I came to tell you that you can't be alone today. Wherever you go, make sure someone is with you."

Suddenly, she looks more interested. Scared even. I release her arm, and it falls to her side slowly.

"Why?" she nearly whispers.

"I can't tell you, I just-"

"Why?" she demands, a little louder. "Tobias, if you know something, I need to know now. We can't have secrets right now."

"Like you don't have your own," I mutter.

"What are you talking about?" she retorts.

"Mind telling me what you and Uriah were talking about before I came over?" Her mouth snaps shut, and she stares at me for a moment. "Look, just don't go anywhere alone today. Please."

Before she can say anything else, I walk away, sensing her eyes on me until I turn the corner.

* * *

 **Tris POV**

* * *

I run for Uriah, as I see him walking out of the cafeteria. Before he can make it out, I grab onto his arm, making him look back at me. He looks confused, but he offers me a smile anyway.

"What's going on, Tris?" he asks, as he turns around, a tray of food in his other hand.

"I need you guys to be looking out today," I say. "Tobias told me I shouldn't go anywhere alone today. That means they're probably planning something today."

"Yeah, that means they're planning to attack him again," Uriah says.

"What? No, he told _me_ not to go anywhere alone-"

"They told him that something is going to happen to you," Uriah cuts in, "so that he'll be off guard when they actually go after him."

I stop for a moment, just staring back at him, as I really consider this. Of course, it makes sense. And it doesn't seem like Eric is above mind games. It is entirely possible that they threatened to go after me so that Tobias would be watching out for me instead of himself. So that everyone would be watching out for me instead of him.

"You're right," I say, still trying to process this.

"I'll watch out for him," Uriah says sincerely. "And when I can't, I have my friends on him. I'll let you know if I hear anything, all right?"

"Okay," I nod. "Thank you, Uriah."

He nods at me and smiles just the slightest bit before he lets himself out of the cafeteria. I turn around, deciding to head back to my table. When I turn, my eyes find the closest table. The table with Eric, Molly, Drew, Peter, Al and more. And that is when I realize that Molly is staring right at me. I watch her for a moment, waiting to see if she is going to do something. But she doesn't. She just stares at me with a look that tells me that she knows exactly what I was talking about with Uriah. She knows that we're ready to fight back.

* * *

 **Tobias POV**

* * *

Strangely enough, none of Eric's friends came after me today. And I didn't hear about anything happening to Tris, but that doesn't necessarily mean that nothing happened. That is why I am waiting in front of the school at our bench as usual to make sure that nothing happened to Tris throughout the day.

A few minutes pass, and I feel myself starting to get nervous that she hasn't come out yet. Still, I just sit there, watching people walk to their buses. Eventually, I watch the buses start to pull away from the parking lot.

My nerves increase with every passing second.

I should have just gotten over my anger and spent as much of the day with her as I could have. That way, I wouldn't have to sit here wondering where she is. I wouldn't have to sit here imagining the worst possible scenarios.

I hear the school's front door open, and I hear someone walking toward me. Hope surges through me for a moment before I look over my shoulder and realize that it is only Uriah walking toward me.

"You ready to go?" he says.

I look at him, confused for a moment, as he stops in front of me, alternating between looking down at his phone and looking at me.

"Go where?" I ask.

He looks up from his phone suddenly and sighs.

"I figured she would have texted you," he says, looking at me almost sympathetically. "We gotta go, man. Tris is in the hospital."


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey hey buddies. Sorry for taking so long to update, I've just been busy as usual.**

 **Also, sorry this chapter is a little shorter than usual, but I figured something is better than nothing! Right? Lol I hope!**

 **Anyway, thank you to GuiltyMind, jvoosen, Jojoboo90, LUCY1925, Katt1848, Charms22, ManhattanSky, Wrenlovesreading, Guest, 1991-Old-school-kid, Chanelx, Strangerdivergentthings, Guest, Guest, goldensnitch1, It'sHardIKnow, Guest, and Sawyerrr for your kind words. You guys really motivate me to continue this every time!**

 **Please let me know what you think, as always! :)**

* * *

 **Tobias POV**

* * *

Apparently, Tris texted Uriah the room number that she is in. So, I follow him through the hospital, as he leads me to it. The entire time- in between wondering what happened to her- I find myself wondering why she texted Uriah but not me. I know that we were mad at each other, but she has to know that I still care.

"Here it is," Uriah says as he stops in front of one of the rooms.

He knocks on the door lightly, and we wait for a moment until finally, the door swings open, revealing a woman who I guess it Tris' mother. She smiles a bit and opens the door wider for us.

"Come in," she says kindly, as we walk past her and into the room.

I hear her close the door behind us, as we walk in. As soon as we enter, my eyes find Tris who is laying in the hospital bed, staring down at her lap. She looks up, as we walk in, and our eyes lock on each other's for a moment before she looks at Uriah.

"Hey, what's going on?" Uriah says, as he sits down in one of the chairs next to her bed.

Tris opens her mouth to respond, but she is cut off.

"She fell down the stairs at school," Tris' mother says, as she glides back over to the bed and looks down at Tris with concern. "Poor thing. The school nurse thought it would be best for her to come to the hospital."

"You fell down the stairs?" I say, making Tris look up at me through her lashes, as if she is ashamed.

"Yeah," she says with a shrug. "It was stupid, I just tripped."

"Well, luckily, she's just a little banged up," Tris' mother continues. "But there doesn't seem to be anything serious."

She smiles at us, as Tris stares down at her lap. For a moment, all of us are quiet, as if we are all trying to think of something to say. Until finally, Tris breaks the silence.

"Mom, could we have a minute?" she asks, looking up at her mother.

"Oh, of course."

She moves to kiss the top of Tris' head before she smiles politely at us and glides out of the room. Tris stares after her and only looks back at us when she hears the door to her room close.

"So, what's really going on?" I ask almost immediately.

"Sit down, you're making me nervous," she mutters. I roll my eyes, but I do as she says and sit down on the other side of her bed. "What I'm about to say stays between us."

"Of course," Uriah nods.

She looks between the two of us for a moment before she lets out a deep breath and shakes her head.

"Molly pushed me down the stairs."

I feel anger start to course through me as soon as the words leave her mouth. I look at Uriah who looks shocked by her statement before I look back at Tris who is staring down, seemingly ashamed.

"Shit, Tris," Uriah says quietly. "I'm so sorry. If we hadn't been focusing all of our attention on Tobias, maybe we could have caught this."

Tris looks up at Uriah at this, her eyes a bit wider now. I look between the two of them, and Uriah does the same before he sighs and looks at Tris with understanding.

"He doesn't know about that, does he?" Uriah says quietly.

"Well, now he does," Tris mutters.

"Do you mind telling me what the hell this is about?" I cut in, making Tris close her eyes and let out a breath.

"Uriah, could we-"

"Yup," he says, standing up from his chair. "Loud and clear."

Tris sighs again and pinches the bridge of her nose tiredly, as Uriah walks out of the room. When she hears the door close, she looks up at the door as if to make sure he is gone before she looks at me.

"Well?" I say.

"Tobias, look," she starts. "I just wanted you to be safe, so I asked Uriah and his friends-"

"To babysit me," I cut in.

"No!" She rolls her eyes. "I asked them to look out for you so that shit like _this_ wouldn't happen to you."

I stare at her for a moment, a little taken aback. I've never even heard her swear before, and I've certainly never seen her like this before.

"You should have told me."

"Yeah, maybe I should've," she says, raising her hands in defeat. "But I didn't. Can't we move on? I'm so tired of this, of us being mad at each other for stupid shit. I did what I did to protect you, just like you've been trying to protect me. So, can we just accept that we both want each other to be safe and stop arguing with each other?"

She stares at me hopefully for a moment, as I take a deep breath. Although I still feel annoyed that she went behind my back about this, I realize that she is right. All of this energy that I am putting towards being mad at the one person on my side could be used toward getting Eric off my back. And I have to admit that I've missed her, just spending time with her. It's an odd concept since I've never really been this close to anyone before. But now that I have her, I realize that this relationship is more important to me than I would care to admit.

"Fine," I say finally. "But no more going behind my back."

She smiles just the slightest bit and shrugs at this.

"Fine."

We are both silent for a moment, as we stare back at each other. Eventually, she pats the spot next to her on her bed, and without saying anything, I stand up and sit down next to her. I lean back and stretch my legs in front of me so that I am laying next to her.

"Maybe there's something else I should tell you, then," she says quietly.

"What is it?" I ask, already nervous as I think of the possibilities.

She shifts a bit to look at me, and I look back at her, as she takes my hand in hers.

"I know about your father," she nearly whispers.

"What?" I ask, hoping that I heard her wrong.

"That's how I knew you were afraid of violence," she says, her voice laced with guilt. "I know I shouldn't have, but I looked you up when we first met. I didn't think I would find much, but then the story about your dad came up. And I know you probably don't like being known as that kid, so I didn't say anything."

"But you knew this whole time," I mutter.

She looks at me for a moment, the pain in her eyes mirroring the pain that I imagine must be in mine.

"I'm sorry," she says.

I stare back at her for a moment, trying to process this. I have to admit that I never wanted Tris to know about my father. I didn't want her to look at me with pity or treat me differently. And it doesn't feel good to know that she found so much information about me without me even knowing about it, but I have to admit that I am a little relieved that I don't have to tell her everything myself. And if there's anyone that I trust with something like this, it would be her.

"It's okay," I say finally.

She looks surprised at this.

"Really?" she says.

"Really," I return. "As long as you don't start treating me different because of it."

"I've known about it for a while. Have you noticed any changes in the way I treat you?"

She smiles the slightest bit, as she squeezes my hand.

"No, I haven't," I reply. "Although some of your methods have been questionable."

"Tobias." She rolls her eyes. "I'm just trying to help you."

"I know. And I know this hasn't been easy for you. I never meant for you to get involved in this, or for you to get hurt." I sense her looking at me, as I look down at our connected hands. "And if it means you won't get hurt again, then..."

"What?" she presses.

I take a deep breath and shake my head a bit, unable to believe that I am actually about to say it.

"I'll tell my foster parent what's going on," I mutter in a voice that I barely recognize as my own.

The room is quiet for a moment besides the sounds of the hospital machinery. I can't bring myself to look up at her. I can barely accept that I just said that to her. Because I know that saying it out loud means that I can't take it back.

"You would really do that?" she asks.

I look up at her finally, as she stares back at me, surprised. I squeeze her hand lightly and let out a sigh.

"Only for you, apparently."


	16. Chapter 16

**Hi, lovely people! Sorry for taking a while to update. It may be summer, but work never ends. Hopefully you guys are having a good summer!**

 **Thank you to Charms22, LUCY1925, Wrenlovesreading, 1991-Old-school-kid, goldensnitch1, It'sHardIKnow, Katt1848, ManhattanSky, GuiltyMind, fairytalebliss182, Guest, Jollyjoy29, Jojoboo90, Guest, Naruisawesome, and Chickenlover313 for your kind words. I'm so glad that you're all liking this story so far!**

 **I hope that you like this chapter. Please let me know what you think. :)**

* * *

 **Tris POV**

* * *

"How are you feeling?" Tobias asks.

I look at him from my place on the wooden table, as he sits down next to me. We decided to meet at the park over the weekend to talk things over. My guess is that he will need a lot of prepping before he tells his foster parent what is going on.

"I'm fine," I say. "Still a little sore, but I'm fine."

We sit there in silence for a moment. I want to start right now, to figure out exactly how he will tell his foster parent, but I don't want to push him too much. I know he doesn't like to be pushed. I let out a sigh, as I rest my head on his shoulder. I feel his head move, as he looks down at me for a moment before he hesitantly puts his arm around me.

"I'm sorry that I let this happen," he says. "I've been a coward."

"You're not a coward," I say. "I understand why you never did anything."

"I never felt brave enough," he says, tightening his arm around me. "Until you barged into my life, that is."

I laugh a little at this, and I feel him look down at me again. Suddenly, he brings his fingers to my chin and guides me to look up at him. He looks at me for a moment before he leans down and captures my lips. I close my eyes, as he kisses me, and I feel my heart flutter just like it did during our first kiss. I realize that it is because he has never kissed me this confidently before. And I have to admit that I love it.

"What's come over you?" I say softly when we pull apart for air.

"I don't know," he says, smirking just the slightest bit. "I guess you just make me feel braver. In a lot of ways."

I smile a little, as he kisses me again. When he pulls away, we look at each other for another moment, as if we are both trying to memorize each other's faces.

"So, you're really going to do it?" I ask.

He sighs and looks away, as he seems to consider my question.

"For you, yeah," he says as though he has to remind himself. "I'll do it. But I have to find the right time and the right way to do it. If I get this wrong, Eric will just come back at us even worse before anyone can stop him."

"You're right," I say. "But I don't think you should wait too long."

"I know. Don't worry, I'll figure it out."

I nod before resting my head on his shoulder again. I decide that I do not need to say anything further, because I trust that he will do the right thing when he is ready. I know that I can trust him.

* * *

"Just so you know," Christina says, "I have gym with Molly, and I will make sure to pelt that bitch with the ball the first chance I get."

I roll my eyes, as Christina smirks back at me. Will is also smiling, as he looks down at his food. I decided to tell Christina and Will what really happened with Molly. After all, they are a couple of my closest friends. It didn't seem right to keep it from them, especially since they could also be another couple of eyes to watch out for us in the hallways.

"That's sweet," I say, pushing my own food around with my fork. "But I think she'd be less likely to attack if we _don't_ provoke her."

Christina simply shrugs at this, as she jabs her food with her fork rather than eating it like she always does.

"I don't know," she says. "That girl only seems to have half a brain. She's like a dog- attack first, think later."

"That's an insult to dogs," Will says.

"Oh, come on," Christina sighs, looking past me. "Asshole at 5 o clock."

I look over my shoulder just in time for Peter to sit down in the empty seat next to me. I feel myself freeze, as he smirks back at me.

And for a moment, I can _feel_ it again. I can actually feel his hands on my chest, and I can feel the terror that coursed through me the whole time.

I force myself to stare back at him, refuse to break eye contact. But every single part of me seems to tense up with fear.

"What now?" Christina demands.

"This doesn't concern you," Peter says shortly before looking back at me. "I just thought I would come talk to you and try to understand exactly what's going on in that little head of yours."

"What are you talking about?" I force out.

"I told you that if you stayed away from Tobias..." He pauses and shrugs. "We'd leave you alone. But clearly you didn't understand because I wasn't speaking at a second grade level."

"I don't care what you say," I cut in. "And I don't care what you do. I'm not going to leave him alone."

"Maybe you would change your mind if you and I went and talked in private. Say, in the auditorium?"

I feel myself start to tremble a little, as he smirks at me. Because I know what he is saying. I know that he is threatening to do it again, when I could hardly handle the first time.

"Excuse you, you're in my seat."

I look up and see Uriah's friend, Marlene standing over us, staring down at Peter. He shifts to face her, seemingly amused. And he is about to respond when two other girls come up behind Marlene and stare down at him. He looks at them for a moment, his smirk disappearing, before he looks back at me.

"Whatever," he mutters.

Finally, he stands and walks away without saying anything more. I look down at my food, as Marlene sits down next to me, and the other two girls sit down around our table as well.

"You know, you really shouldn't get yourself into trouble if you don't know how to get yourself out."

I look up at her, and she stares back at me, as if she is waiting for a response.

"I didn't mean to get myself into trouble," I say. "I just don't see why we should let them do whatever they want, like they're kings or something."

"Well, _we,"_ she says, nodding toward the other two girls, "don't."

"Yeah, why do you think Peter looked so scared?" one of the other girls says. She nods at the girl next to her. "Lynn here has beaten him up once, and he's not looking for it to happen again."

"Yeah, and Shauna's beaten up Lynn, so it all evens out," Marlene smirks.

Lynn rolls her eyes, as Shauna smiles proudly.

"She's my little sister," Shauna says, obviously noticing the look of concern on my face. "I have to rough her up every now and then."

"I'm sorry," Christina cuts in. "But where have you guys been every other time Peter came over here to be an asshole?"

"Well, we never really noticed," Marlene says. "But then Uriah told us to start looking out for Tobias Eaton, so we did. And then, after you got pushed down the stairs, he told us to start watching out for you too."

"Yeah, so we saw that idiot come over, and we figured the least we could do is scare him away," Shauna says.

"Well, I appreciate it," I say finally.

"Clearly," Marlene says. "We have got to teach you to stand up for yourself, girl. When Peter was over here, it looked like a kid meeting the boogie man for the first time."

"I know, I just-"

"People like him," she continues, "they feed on fear. If you're not afraid of them, they'll go away."

I look at her for a moment before nodding reluctantly. How could I possibly look at him without fear after what he did?

"We should get back," she says, looking at Shauna and Lynn. "We need to pack up before the bell rings. We'll see you around, though."

I nod at her again, as the three of them stand up. Shauna smiles at me for a moment, as they walk back to their table. I look back at Christina and Will who are both looking at me.

"Feels like we're in a war or something," Christina mutters.

The bell rings, and the two of them pack up their things and stand up. I stand up as well, and I watch them, wanting to say something more. After all, I can't help but feel guilty. I have to guess that they didn't expect all of this to happen when they befriended me. They don't say anything, but as we separate in the hallway, I can tell that they weren't exactly happy with what just happened.

I try not to think about it, as I walk down the hallway, but I still feel guilty.

"Tris!"

I stop, as I feel someone grab my arm. I look over my shoulder and see Al looking back at me, a desperate look in his eyes. I pull my arm away.

"Don't talk to me," I say as forcefully as I can.

"Tris, please listen to me," he tries again. "I'm sorry for what I did, but I'm not the one you need to be afraid of."

"I'm not afraid of cowards like you."

"Just listen, please. They're going to go after you. You have to-"

"Don't say 'they' like you're not one of them."

He looks at me, seemingly on the verge of tears.

"Tris, please, I..."

He trails off, as I turn around and continue walking. Once I have walked further away, I look over my shoulder to make sure that he is gone, and I see that he is nowhere in sight. I let out a sigh, as I continue until I reach my locker.

As soon as I open my locker, I realize that someone has shoved a folded up piece of paper into my locker. I look at it for a moment, almost afraid to open it. As I pick it up, I look around, but I do not see any familiar faces. So, I look back at the paper, as I unfold it.

And I feel my heart sink when I see it.

On it is a sideways stick figure with x's for eyes with words scrawled under it.

 _Talk and he gets it._


	17. Chapter 17

**Hi all! So I'm just gonna level with you all. I really don't know how I feel about this chapter. I wrote it pretty fast because I was in a rush, so I'm not sure it's my best work. Also on that note, please excuse any typos! Ha. I sure know how to sell a story.**

 **Anyway, thank you to goldensnitch1, Katt1848, Charms22, ManhattanSky, Wrenlovesreading, Guest, 1991-Old-school-kid, It'sHardIKnow, and FDFobsessed for your kind words! I always appreciate when you guys take the time to comment.**

 **Also shoutout to FDFobsessed who just found this story! Giving you a shoutout because your reviews give me life!**

 **Anyway, I hope you guys like this one. Please let me know what you think. :)**

* * *

 **Tris POV**

* * *

I look over my shoulder, as I sit on the bench outside the school, but Tobias still isn't here. I look back around at the groups of students walking to the school buses and their cars. My eyes dart around the crowd, as if the person that put that note in my locker will just be standing there with a giant sign on their back. I let out a sigh, as I look down at my hands in my lap. I can't seem to stop fidgeting and wringing my hands.

"Hey."

I look up, as Tobias sits down next to me, but I look down again as soon as our eyes meet.

"Hey," I reply, still looking down at my hands.

There is silence for a moment, but I can feel his eyes on me.

"What's wrong?" he asks.

I look up at him, and he stares back at me. I can tell from the way that he is looking at me that he already knows that something is wrong, and he isn't going to believe me if I lie. But I decide to try anyway. After all, if he sees the note, he might decide not to tell his foster parent.

"Nothing," I say, but I can tell that he doesn't believe me. "I'm just tired."

"Do you think I was born yesterday?" he asks, raising an eyebrow at me. "What's wrong?"

"Tobias, it's nothing-"

"Tris, you're the one that said we shouldn't be keeping secrets." I look away at this. "Remember?"

"Yes," I sigh. "I remember."

"Then tell me what's wrong." I hesitate for a moment. He takes my hand in his, and I look at him again. "You can trust me."

I look back at him for a moment and let out a sigh because I know that it is hopeless. I know that he isn't going to let this go. I stare back at his dark blue eyes, trying to gather the courage to tell him the truth. Until finally, I let go of his hand and reach for my bag which was on the bench next to me. I reach into my bag and pull out the folded up piece of paper that I know could scare him away from ever speaking up.

I take a deep breath, as I slowly hand the paper to him without looking at him. I feel him looking at me still, as he takes the paper out of my hand, and I bite my lip, as I listen to him unfold it. I look at him hesitantly, as he stares at the paper for one long moment. Eventually, he starts to fold the note up again.

"All this means is that he's scared," I say. "He knows that we're so close to getting him into trouble. That's all it is."

"Who are you trying to convince?" he mutters.

"Look..." I watch him, as he puts the note in his pocket. "You can't let this stop you."

"Talk and he gets it," he repeats. "That also means that if _I_ talk, _you_ get it. And I'm not letting that happen."

"Tobias-"

"Tris, I already know what you're going to say," he sighs. "Just let me think about it."

"Okay," I say hesitantly.

I take my hand in his, making him look down at our connected hands. I lean in toward him and rest my head on his shoulder, as I take a deep breath, and I feel him look at me. He sighs as well and strokes my hand a bit.

"I don't know what I'm supposed to do to keep you safe anymore," he mutters.

I lift my head and rest my chin on his shoulder instead so that I can look at him.

"Don't worry about that," I say. "For once, just try to think about yourself."

* * *

The next morning, as I walk into school, I almost feel as if I have a huge target on my back. I find myself looking around at all of the other students to make sure that none of them are the people that I am worried about running into. It hurts a little to feel like this all over again. After all, it's exactly how I felt at my old school, and I thought that things would be better here.

When I get to my locker, I look around one last time before I open up my locker. As soon as I open it up, I realize that there is another folded up paper in my locker. I look at it for a moment, wondering what will happen if I just ignore it or throw the note away. But something tells me that won't make anything easier. So, I pick up the paper and slowly unfold it.

 _Come to the auditorium,_ it reads, _i_ _f you want him to be safe_ _._

I stare down at it for a moment. I know what it means. I have to hand myself over to them so that they won't go after Tobias. And as terrifying as it is, as cold as my entire body feels for a moment, I realize that I would put myself in harm's way at any moment if it means keeping him safe.

With that, I fold up the paper and put it in my pocket before I close my locker and start walking to the auditorium. I know that there is still about twenty minutes before the bell rings. That means they have twenty minutes to torture me. And I realize that if I was just a little more selfish, I wouldn't be walking straight into their hands right now.

But I am. I take a deep breath, as I put my hand on the doorknob of the auditorium door. I slowly turn the doorknob and let myself in. As soon as I enter, I am immediately brought back to the last time I was here, and I stand frozen in front of the door. This time, there is a light on on the stage, and I can see the entire backstage area in front of me. So, I see it when Peter, Eric, and Al walk out from behind the curtains.

"Didn't think you would make it," Eric says. "Didn't think you were brave enough."

I look behind me, as I feel someone come up behind me. I see the boy from my class, Drew, standing between me and the door and staring down at me, and I take a step forward to get away from him.

"I'm not a bad person, you know," Eric continues. "That's why I'm going to give you one last chance to break things off with Eaton, and we'll leave you alone."

"No," I say without hesitation. "Believe it or not, you don't have the power to choose who I spend my time with. I'm not going to leave him."

"There's something to be said about loyalty," Eric says to Peter who smirks back at him. "On that note. Al?"

I freeze in my place, as Eric and Peter walk toward me while Al stares at me sadly. The only thing that keeps me from running or screaming is the reminder that if I leave, they will take everything out on Tobias instead.

"Not even gonna put up a fight this time?" Peter says once he is next to me.

"That's how you're gonna prove your loyalty?" I say to Al. "You're gonna beat up a girl?"

"Not quite," Peter says, as he takes one of my arms and Eric takes the other. "He's gonna finish what I started."

I feel a strong chill go through my entire body, as I stare back at Al. I know exactly what Peter means, and just the thought makes my heart race with fear. But Al wouldn't touch me like that. I hope, I pray.

"Any day," Eric says.

I stand there, staring at him, and I feel my breathing pick up, as Al slowly walks toward me, staring at me sadly. He looks as if he is about to cry, and I imagine that that must be how I look, too.

 _Stand still,_ I think to myself. _For Tobias. Just for Tobias._

Finally, he stops when he is right in front of me, and he stares at me for a moment.

"I really am sorry," he says quietly.

Before I can react, Al lunges forward and pushes Eric away from me, making Peter let me go, as he goes after Al. I take a step away from them and watch as Al does the best he can to fight Peter, Eric, and Drew.

"Run!" he yells, as they start to throw punches and push him to the floor. "Tris, run!"

And though a part of me feels sorry for Al, I do. I run out onto the stage and jump over the edge into the seating area of the auditorium. I run through the aisle of the auditorium and to the exit, adrenaline fueling my every step. Once I have made it out of the auditorium, I keep running. I can see people in the hallways look at me, as I run by, but I realize that I can't stop. I don't know how to stop or where. I just keep running, further and further, until I am in front of the front entrance of the school.

I stop a few feet away from the door and drop my head, as I wrap my arms around my own torso, trying to steady myself. My entire body shakes, as the adrenaline continues to course through me.

"Tris!" I look up only to see Tobias standing in front of me. I stare at him, and he stares back at me, obviously concerned. "What's going on? I saw you run by."

I stare back at him, my mouth open, but I realize that I can't find any words. He takes a step toward me and puts his hands on my arms.

"Tris, what's going on?" he asks again. "You're shaking."

As the adrenaline begins to subside, I realize that my eyes are tearing up. I take a shaky breath and look down, as I walk into his arms wordlessly. He wraps his arms around me hesitantly, and I simply stand there. I know that soon, he will force me to answer. I know that I will have to tell him soon. But for now, I allow myself to take comfort, just for a moment, in the feeling of his arms around me.

* * *

I sit, staring down at the lunch table. I can feel Christina and Will staring at me. I felt that I had to tell them what happened since I told Tobias and Uriah as well. Of course, I didn't tell them that Peter wanted Al to touch me. I only told Tobias about that part. And when I did, he seemed angrier than I've ever seen him. I didn't want to tell him, but I knew that I couldn't keep it from him. He can tell so easily when I'm keeping a secret.

"So, he was really gonna beat you up just to prove his loyalty to Eric?" Christina says.

"I guess so," I say. "But he didn't go through with it."

"So what?" she scoffs. "That doesn't make him any better."

"Well, it looks like he got himself kicked out of their group," Will says, looking past me. "He's not sitting at their table anymore."

"Good," Christina mutters. "Asshole doesn't deserve any friends."

I shrug my shoulders at this, but I don't say anything. Although Al did bad things, I know what it's like to have no friends. I know that nobody deserves that.

"Hey." I look up, as Marlene sits down in the seat next to me. She looks around briefly at Christina and Will before looking at me again. "I heard some things."

"I can't believe Uriah told you so fast," I say. "I don't want this getting around."

"Relax, he only told me," she replies. "And only because I have an idea to help you."

I look at her, as she stares at me expectantly.

"What is it?" I ask hesitantly.

"A few of us go to this cool martial arts place after school some days. Why don't you come with us one day?"

"And what?" I ask. "Learn how to fight? I mean, there's so many of them, and they're all bigger than me and stronger-"

"We can start with building up your confidence," she says, smirking just the slightest bit. "Just think about it, okay?"

Before I can say anything, she smiles a little at Christina and Will before getting up and walking away. I stare down at the table for a moment, considering her offer.

"It's not the worst idea," I hear Christina say. "I mean, if they're going to keep coming after you, you might as well learn how to fight them off."

"I'll think about it," I mutter.

And I do think about it. I think about what it would be like if I could protect myself. Maybe if I could, Tobias wouldn't have to worry so much about keeping me safe. Maybe if I could protect myself, he would finally tell his foster parent what is going on. And after a moment of consideration, I realize that it's definitely not the worst idea.

* * *

I sit down on my bed later that day, as I hold my phone up to my ear. Tobias called me after school because I didn't wait for him at the bench today. It just seemed too difficult to face him after everything. Since he is the only one I told the whole truth to, he is the only one that I feel embarrassed in front of. I can't help but feel embarrassed that I just stood there. That I would have just let it happen, to keep Tobias safe. That I didn't fight back, partly because I _couldn't_ fight back. I didn't know how.

"I think I'm gonna take her up on her offer," I say once I have finished telling him about my conversation with Marlene. "What do you think?"

"It's not a bad idea, but I don't know that it'll make things any easier," he replies. "I know _how_ to fight, but I can't actually get myself to fight anyone."

"How do you know how to fight?" I ask.

There is silence for a moment, and I consider checking to see if he is still there, but he talks again before I can.

"I used to be on the school's wrestling team while I was in my last home," he says. "But after a while, it just got too difficult."

I nod, though I know he can't see me.

"I understand," I say.

After all, I saw the look on his face when he punched Al. I know that he must think of his father every time he fights someone.

"But if you think it would help you," he says, "and if it would help you feel safe, then go for it."

"Yeah, maybe I will."

He goes quiet for a moment, and I simply wait for him to speak.

"Tris, I just want you to know..." he pauses for a moment, as if he is trying to find the right words. "What happened today, it wasn't your fault."

"I don't-"

"It wasn't," he cuts in. "But next time you get a note like that or anything, come find me first. Okay?"

"Okay," I say. "I will."

"Good. I'm just glad you're okay," he says. "I... really care about you, Tris."

I can't help but smile a little through the sadness that I am feeling. I bring my knees into my chest and hug my legs.

"I really care about you, too, Tobias," I say quietly.

"Good," he says again. "I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay. Bye, Tobias."

I lower my phone and press the end button before putting my phone down next to me. I lay down and wrap my arms around my pillow, as I think about what happened today. It is still so embarrassing, and I find myself wishing that I never had to go back to school. Maybe life would be easier if I was just home-schooled like my mother suggested some time ago. But I could never even mention that to my mother. I can't let her know what's going on. She would worry too much.

I lift my head, as I hear my phone go off, and I reach for it. When I pick it up, I see that it is a text from Christina.

 _Hey, I think I should tell you something,_ it reads.

I text back, asking what it is and put my phone back down. I lay there for a few minutes, just hugging my pillow and trying desperately to forget today. Finally, my phone goes off again, and I pick it up and open the new text from Christina.

 _It's getting around the neighborhood, so I figure I should tell you before you hear it from someone else,_ it reads. _Al killed himself._

I stare at my phone for a moment, trying to take in the words. The text is so blunt, so short. Just three words to describe the loss of a person, of a life. And I find myself having the same thought as before- that no one deserves to have no friends. If Al had had someone in his life to reach out to, maybe he would still be alive. After all, I know what it is like to have no one to talk to when everything seems to be going wrong. I know how hopeless that can feel. And it's a feeling I wouldn't wish on anyone. Not even Al.

I slowly put my phone back down, as I hear a knock on my door. I look up, as my mother glides into the room. She is smiling effortlessly, but her smile disappears as she looks at me.

"Bea," she says softly, as she walks toward me.

I let go of my pillow and slowly sit up, as she sits down on the edge of my bed. She looks at me for a moment, concern etched on her face. And it is only when she speaks again that I feel everything come crashing down on me all at once.

"Are you okay, sweetheart?"

It is only then that the full weight of everything falls on me, and it is only then that I feel my eyes start to tear up. Without thinking, I push myself forward and straight into her arms, and she wraps her arms around me without hesitation. I rest my head on her shoulder, as she rubs my back lightly.

I force out the one-word answer.

"No."


	18. Chapter 18

**Hey there! I noticed that there's been a drop in the amount of people reading this story. Is it because I'm taking forever to update? If it is, I really am sorry! It's just that shit has really hit the fan in my life lately, and I'm trying to work through so many things. But I promise I'm trying to update! And I appreciate those of you who are still reading!**

 **On that note, thank you to Guest, LUCY1925, ReadingConstellation, goldensnitch1, Charms22, Katt1848, FDFobsessed, Chickenlover313, ManhattanSky, Jojoboo900, 1991-Old-school-kid, It'sHardIKnow, Sawyerrr, and Naruisawesome for your feedback! It is always appreciated!**

 **Oh, and btw FDFobsessed, I do see your reviews on Broken Together, and those too give me life and make my day so much better so thank you! x**

 **Anyway, I hope you guys like this chapter. Please let me know what you think! :)**

* * *

 **Tobias POV**

* * *

Lauren looks at me from her place on the couch, as I walk into the house. I close the door behind me and start walking into the house, and she stares at me the whole time. I raise an eyebrow at her, and she gestures for me to come over. Wordlessly, I walk over to the couch, and I sit down next to her. The program on the television is all but forgotten at this point, as she looks back at me.

"You need to either say something," she says quietly, "or come up with a better lie."

"What are you talking about?" I ask.

"Amar wanted to talk to me today," she nearly whispers, since Amar is probably right upstairs. "He asked me if I knew anything about you and Eric."

"What'd you say?"

"I said I didn't know anything," she says, shrugging. "But I doubt he believes me. He knows something is up with you guys."

I let out a sigh, as I rest my elbows on my knees and look down.

"What are you gonna do?" she asks.

"I'm gonna tell him," I mutter. "I'm just waiting for the right time."

"Well, don't wait too long," she says. "You know better than anyone that Eric is dangerous."

"Yeah, I know." I sigh. "I'll take care of it."

Before she can say anything else, I stand up and start walking toward the stairs. I feel her eyes on me for a moment, but she doesn't say anything or try to stop me. So, I walk upstairs and toward my room. As I walk, I see light coming from the slit under Eric's bedroom door, meaning that he is here. I pause for a moment and look at the light.

And I'm not sure what possesses me to do it, but I find myself walking towards his room instead. I realize that if I could just bring logic into this somehow, maybe Eric would realize that there is no reason for us to be enemies. After all, I don't even know what his reason is for treating me like this. I don't even think he has a reason.

I bring my hand up and knock lightly on the door before I can think too much.

"Go away," I hear him say from inside, as he always does when Amar knocks on his door.

I sigh and slowly open the door. When I open it, I see Eric sitting on his bed, staring down at his phone. He looks up, and when he sees that it is me, he looks obviously annoyed.

"I said 'go away'," he says.

"I just wanna talk," I mutter.

"Talk?" He smirks. "About what? Our feelings?"

"I wanna talk about what's been going on lately."

"I guess your girlfriend told you what happened," he says, looking back at his phone.

"Yeah, she did. I don't care what you do to me. I don't care that you go after me. But you had no right to go after her like that."

"No right?" He looks up from his phone and stands up. He takes a couple of steps toward me, never breaking eye contact. "We had to hold her still. How else was that loser, Al, ever gonna get any action?"

"Look, just leave her alone," I cut in, trying as hard as I can to control my anger. "I don't know why you're going after her. I don't even know why you're going after me-"

"Would that make it easier for you?" He smirks. "You wanna know why I don't like you?"

"No," I mutter. "Because I know you don't have a reason."

His smirk disappears, as he stares back at me. For a moment, I think that he is going to attack me right here and now. But he is smarter than that. He wouldn't do something like that with Amar right down the hall. Just as the though enters my mind, I hear footsteps behind me getting closer.

"What's going on here?"

I look over my shoulder and see Amar standing in Eric's doorway, watching us with concern.

"Nothing," I say before looking back at Eric.

"Yeah, nothing," he mutters. "I'm just getting ready to go to bed."

"I'll leave you to it," I say.

We look at each other for a moment before I turn and walk past Amar out of Eric's room. Surprisingly, Amar doesn't say anything, but I feel him watching me until I walk into my own room and close the door.

* * *

I watch Uriah, as he stares at the paper in front of him with his eyebrows furrowed. He scribbles something down on the paper before pushing it across the table to me.

"I don't know, man," he says.

"Come on," I say, as I take the paper. "We've gone over this a million times."

"I'm sorry," he shrugs. "Physics is like a foreign language to me."

I shake my head, as I look down at his answers, which are mostly wrong. I look up at him just as he is looking back to make sure Hana is not watching. When he looks back at me, there seems to be some urgency in his eyes.

"Dude, I really think we should talk about what's going on," he says.

"Why?" I ask.

"Come on, you know why. It was one thing when I was just looking out for you. But now, they're going after Tris, too, and she's my friend. We can't just let them go after her."

"I know," I sigh. "I'm working on it."

"Well, you have to work faster," he says. "Before she gets _really_ hurt."

For some reason, his words make a wave of fear wash over me all over again. Of course, I have known that there was a possibility of Tris getting hurt through all of this, but just thinking about it is terrifying. I watch him, as he takes his paper back and sighs. He glances over once again to the front desk to make sure that Hana is still not looking at us.

"I don't understand why you don't just fight back," he says. "I mean, you look like you could take him."

"It's complicated," I mutter.

"Try me."

I look at him, as he stares back at me expectantly. I roll my eyes, as I look down at his paper again.

"Maybe you should just focus on graduating."

He lets out a humorless laugh at this.

"I'm just trying to help, man," he says. "You need to do something, before something really bad happens to her."

* * *

Tris and I decided to spend time together at her house since her parents were going to be out for a few hours, and her brother always stays late at school for extracurricular activities, so we would have time to ourselves.

I follow her up the stairs and into her room. I look around at the house, as we walk, and I can't help but look around at her room as well when we get into it. The walls are grey, and the room is about the size of mine. There is a bookcase on one of the walls, and I wander over to it to look at them.

"Have you read all of these?" I ask.

"Not yet," she replies.

I turn around, as she sits down on her bed and looks up at me expectantly. I walk over to the bed and sit down next to her. We are silent for a moment, as she looks down at her lap. I push her hair back so that I can see her face better, and she smiles just the slightest bit.

"I wanted to ask how you're feeling," I say. "You looked upset when Matthews was talking about Al this morning."

She looks up at me, her expression unreadable. Suddenly, she moves closer to me and puts her hand on my shoulder.

"I don't wanna talk... about that," she seems to say as an afterthought. "I just want to be here with you."

I nod at her, and we look back at each other for a moment before she leans into me and gently presses her lips to mine. I kiss her back without hesitation, and our lips move in sync with each other. Despite everything that is going on, it gives me comfort that we have become so comfortable with each other. Just as the thought enters my mind, she brings her hand to my neck and slides her hand up to my cheek, sending a chill through me. I wrap my arm around her waist, guiding her closer to me.

And that is when I realize that the kiss seems to be intensifying by the second. I realize that she has never kissed me like this, but it is definitely not a bad thing.

Without breaking the kiss, she slowly lays back, pulling me to hover over her. I can't help but feel surprised, and I would stop to ask her if this is okay, if she wasn't holding me against her and kissing me so purposefully.

As we lay there, I bring one of my hands to her waist, my fingers resting on the visible strip of skin between her shirt and her jeans. This seems to take her by surprise for a moment, and I finally break the kiss to look at her. She stares back at me, and it is only then that I notice that her eyes are tearing up.

"Are you okay?" I ask.

"I'm fine," she says.

She tries to pull me back in for another kiss, but I pull back to stop her.

"Tris, you look like you're about to cry," I say. "What's wrong? Do you want me to stop?"

Her eyes begin to water even more, but she is obviously trying to hold it back. She looks at the wall.

"I'm fine."

"Did I do something?" I try again.

She shakes her head, but it appears that she is now too choked up to reply. She brings her hand to her face and shudders.

"I'm sorry," she mumbles. "I don't know what I'm doing. I'm so stupid. I'm sorry."

"What are you talking about?" She says nothing. But suddenly, it hits me. I glance down at my hand still resting on her side and remove it. "Were you thinking of..."

I trail off, and she does not reply. But she doesn't need to. I know that my touching her must have made her think of Peter touching her all over again. I feel anger start to course through me just at the thought, but when I look back down at her, still trying not to cry, I realize that I need to comfort her. After all, I don't like to see her like this.

I crawl off of her and return to a sitting position before I grab her hands and pull her up as well. She continues to avoid my eyes, but I reach up and wipe her tears away anyway. She sniffles a little, as I start to put my arms around her. She pulls back a bit.

"I'm fine," she mutters.

"No, you're not."

She says nothing to this, as she finally lets me put my arms around her. I pull her into my lap so that I can hold her to my chest, and she continues to cry quietly. The sound of her crying pains me.

"I'm so sorry, Tris," I say quietly. "I never wanted any of this to happen to you."

She doesn't respond to this, as she continues to shudder against me. As I hold her there and listen to her crying, I realize that I have been selfish. I was too scared of what would happen if I told Amar to say anything. But my fear and hesitation has brought her nothing but pain that she doesn't deserve, and I cannot allow her to get hurt anymore.

Tris was right. Eric was writing those notes because he knows that I am so close to getting him into trouble. If I do say something, Tris will have more protection. She will have more eyes watching out for her in the school. I know that it is risky, that Eric might retaliate if I do speak. But I need to take that risk if it means that there is a chance of her being safe.

"I'll take care of this," I say finally, as I run my hand over her hair. "I promise."


	19. Chapter 19

**Hey what's up hello. You guys are so sweet 3 Thank you for all the kind responses to not just the last chapter but to my author's note as well. You guys really make me feel so much better every time I update.**

 **Thank you to jvoosen, Charms22, fairytalebliss182, shybooklover09, ManhattanSky, Divergent Setter, FDFobsessed, Wrenlovesreading, PansymuffinsPedrad, Katt1848, 1991-Old-school-kid, Guest, Chanelx, Chickenlover313, It'sHardIKnow, and Guest for all your kind comments. I really appreciate all your kind words!**

 **I try not to message you guys directly because I don't want to clog up your inboxes, but to the people who offered sympathy or even offered to listen to me vent, thank you so much and the world needs more people like you. 3**

 **To the people that just found this story, welcome and thank you for letting me know that you're enjoying it. 3**

 **And here's another heart for everyone in between: 3**

 **Someone also said that if shit has hit the fan in my life, I shouldn't be focusing on this story. And I totally get where you're coming from, but I focus on this story anyway because writing is basically my escape, and I love to focus on stories to relax.**

 **That being said, I'm sorry if this chapter isn't the best, but I'm really trying to get my inspiration back, so please hang in there.**

 **Also WARNING this chapter is rated M for sexual reasons, but I promise it's not graphic or anything. If you're concerned, feel free to message me.**

 **Anyway, ENOUGH out of me! I hope you guys like this chapter! Let me know what you think!**

* * *

 **Tris POV**

* * *

As I hit the punching bag like Marlene taught me, all I can think about is tonight. Four told me that he would talk to Amar after school today while I was at the gym with Marlene, Shauna, and Lynn. Once we are both done, he is going to come over to my house again. My parents will be out, and Caleb is going to be at Susan's house.

We are just supposed to talk, but I cannot help but think about what happened last time we were alone in my room. At first, I wasn't sure what came over me. But when I had some time to think about it later, it began to make sense. After all, I have never been so comfortable with anyone before. I have never cared for someone so much, and I have never felt so loved in return.

And that's when I began to consider the word. Love.

The only people that I have ever loved in my life are my family members. I have never loved someone romantically before. It is terrifying and thrilling at the same time, and it seems to be worth the fear.

"Where'd you go?"

I look at Marlene who is staring back at me expectantly.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"It seems like you spaced out for a minute," she says. "I could tell because you weren't hitting as hard anymore."

"Oh," I shrug. "I was just thinking."

"About what?" she asks, smirking a little.

"It's not important," I say, returning my attention to the punching bag.

I hit the punching bag again the way that she taught me.

"Nice one," she comments. "Were you thinking about Tobias?"

I look at her, and she smirks back at me.

"Why would you say that?" I ask.

"Just asking." She shrugs. "I mean the only reason you're in this situation is because you befriended the guy."

"It's not his fault," I say immediately.

"I didn't say that, did I? I just think it's something that you're here learning how to fight rather than ditching this guy. Clearly you like him a lot."

I look at her for a moment before returning my attention to the punching bag.

"Okay," she says, drawing out the syllable. "I guess we're not gonna talk about it."

"I'd rather not," I say, as I continue to practice.

"Well, your hits are good," she says. "And for what it's worth, you can always bring lover boy here if you want."

I turn to look at her again, and she shrugs.

"All I'm saying is, this is a great place to build confidence. And it seems like he could really use some confidence."

* * *

I look at myself in the mirror. After I got out of the shower, I put on a tank top and jean shorts. I am already getting nervous about seeing Tobias in this outfit since I have never been one to wear flattering clothes, much less clothes that show that my body has any shape at all. But being with Tobias has made me wants to wear outfits like this more often. Not because I think that he wants me to, but because I want to look nice for him. I run my fingers through my hair, pulling it over my shoulder and let out a sigh. I could barely finish blow-drying my hair because I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to hear him if he knocked on the door.

Just as I think about it, I hear a distant knock from downstairs. I take a deep breath before letting myself out of my room and running down the stairs. When I reach the front door, I pull it open and find myself staring back at Tobias.

"Hey," I say, as he starts to walk in.

"Hey," he returns. "How was the martial arts place?"

I close the door and take his hand in mine, as I start walking up the stairs with him.

"It was all right," I say. "How was your talk with Amar?"

He walks into my room, as I close the bedroom door behind us out of habit even though nobody else is here. I turn around to face him, and he stares back at me wordlessly for a moment before he sits down on the edge of my bed. I hesitate for a moment- I can tell that he has bad news- before I walk over to the bed and sit down next to him. I look at him, waiting for him to speak, as he stares at the wall across from us.

"Did you talk to him?" I try again.

"Yeah," he sighs. "I did."

"Well?" I say hesitantly.

He stays quiet for a moment before he looks up at me, clearly upset.

"He said there's nothing that he can do about Eric if there's no proof. But if I would feel safer leaving, he can try to move me to a different home."

I stare back at him, feeling my heart sink just at the thought of Tobias leaving.

"What did you say?" I ask quietly.

He looks down again at this and sighs.

"I told him I would think about it," he mutters.

There is silence for a moment, as I let this sink in. After all, he has just admitted that there is a possibility of him leaving. And while I know that he would be safer elsewhere, it hurts to think about not being able to see him, talk to him, or kiss him. I realize that it is incredibly selfish for me to want him to stay, but I cannot help it. I have never felt this way with anyone, and I realize that I am not ready to lose him yet.

I also realize that if Tobias leaves, he will ultimately be disappointed in himself for running away. I don't think that he would admit it. But I know that he would feel like a coward for running away.

I bring my hand to his cheek and gently turn his head so that he is looking at me again.

"Tobias, you can't leave," I say.

"Tris," he sighs. "I haven't made any decisions yet."

I remove my hand, and he looks away again. So, instead, I move closer to him and rest my head on his shoulder. I run my hand down his arm until I reach his hand and weave my fingers through his, and I feel him turn his head so that he is almost leaning on me.

"Tris?"

I lift my head at this, as I stroke his hand with my thumb. He looks back at me for a moment before speaking.

"I have to tell you something," he says. I nod at him to continue, and he does. "I think I might be in love with you."

I feel my heart flutter a little in my chest, as I stare back at him, at a loss for words. He stares back at me, seemingly waiting for me to say something, and I try to find words.

"Really?" I force out.

He nods hesitantly at this, and I look down at our hands.

"I think I might be in love with you, too," I say.

There is silence for a moment, and I consider saying more. But eventually, he brings his fingers to my face and guides me to look at him before he leans into me and presses his lips to mine softly. I kiss him back without hesitation, and the entire time, I feel as if I am floating. My head feels so light, as he kisses me with more and more intensity. I bring my hand to his cheek, deepening the kiss, and I slowly push myself even closer to him. He seems to falter for a moment, and I pull away to look at him.

"Maybe we should stop," he whispers.

"Why?" I ask.

"Don't you remember what happened last time?" he says.

I look down, suddenly feeling ashamed. I know exactly what he means. I know that he is referring to last time, when I get emotional just from him touching me, and it makes me feel so ashamed that he now thinks he can't even touch me without making me cry again.

"Tris," he sighs, pushing my hair back. "It's not that I don't want to. It's not like I've never thought about it."

I look up at this, feeling myself blush a little at the implication of this words. At the implication that he has thought of me in that way before. I can tell that he looks a little embarrassed as well, but he doesn't break eye contact.

"That's exactly why we should. Whatever happens, if you end up leaving or staying..." I reach up and stroke his cheek lightly. "I want you to be my first. I want to share this with you."

He stares back at me, clearly surprised, before he seems to compose himself.

"Are you sure that's what you want?" he asks.

"Yes," I say. "I'm sure."

He nods a little and simply stares back at me for a moment, as if he isn't sure what to do. I lean into him slowly and press my lips to his again. As we kiss, I move myself into his lap, and he wraps his arms around my waist, as I keep my hands on his face. He slowly pulls away from me, and I'm not sure why until I feel him slowly bring his hand to my waist. We stare back at each other, our faces still close.

I close my eyes, as he slowly trails his hand down to my hip, then down to my thigh.

"Hey," he whispers, making me open my eyes. "Look at me. It's just me."

I nod a little, as he trails his hand back up to my waist. I bite my lip, as I realize that his hand moving up and down my body the way it is is actually a little soothing. I stare back at him, as his hand repeats the motion one more time.

"I trust you," I tell him.

He smiles just the slightest bit before kissing me again. I slowly move my hands down his chest until my fingers reach the hem of his shirt. He pulls away from me and looks at me, as if to make sure I am still okay, and I nod at him. Without having to say a word, he seems to understand. And without asking again, he pulls his shirt off and drops it on the ground before looking at me again. I can't help but look down at his torso.

Of course, I have seen men shirtless before. But I have never seen a man shirtless in this kind of setting before. And I have never seen anyone as beautiful as him. I glance up at him to make sure that he is okay with this before I bring my hand to his chest and run my fingers over his chest. He reaches up and takes my hand in his. I watch, as he lifts my arm and creates a trail of kisses from my wrist, up my arm, to my shoulder, and finally up to my neck.

I tilt my head to the side, as his lips reach my neck, and I take a deep breath. As his lips worry over my skin, I realize that it actually feels good. With every kiss that he leaves on the sensitive skin of my neck, I feel something, almost like electricity, course through me. I bring my hand up to run my fingers through his short brown hair, and he wraps his arms around my waist again, drawing me into him.

When he finally draws back to look at me again, I look down and decide to ask the question.

"Should I take mine off, too?" I ask.

"Only if you want to," he says.

I inhale deeply, and before I can think about it too much, I bring my hands to the hem of my shirt and pull it off. I drop it on the ground just like he did before I finally venture to look up at him.

I have never been very comfortable with my body. I have never believed that I was as pretty as the other girls. But I can't help but smile a little when I see the way that he is looking at me.

And it is in that moment that I realize it. That I don't have to be as beautiful as the other girls. He will still look at me like I'm the most beautiful girl in the world. And when he looks at me, that's how I will always feel.

He looks at me finally and smiles a little when he sees that I am smiling.

"Can I touch you?" he asks, almost nervously.

I nod at him, and he seems to hesitate for a moment before he brings his hand to my now bare waist and moves it up until it is resting on the clasp of my bra, and I feel my breath hitch, as his fingertip skims over it.

"Take it off," I say before I can think too much.

"Are you sure?" he asks.

I nod at him again, and he nods back before he leans into me again. As he kisses me, I feel him unhook my bra. And I realize that if he wasn't kissing me, if I didn't feel so safe, I probably would have backed out. But I don't. And he continues to kiss me, as he pulls my bra off of my body and drops it on the floor. Finally, he pulls away, and I can try that he is trying so hard not to look at my bare chest.

"You can look," I whisper. "It's okay."

He looks at me, seemingly surprised by my confidence, but he does as I say. He looks down at my breasts for a moment, and I can't quite tell what he is thinking until he looks back up at me and speaks.

"You're really beautiful, you know," he says.

Before I can protest, he leans in to kiss me again, and I let him. He draws me closer to him, and I feel my head become even lighter, as my bare torso touches his. I pull away from him and move myself off of his lap. He looks confused for a moment before I take his hand and start to pull him with me, as I slowly lay back. He crawls on top of me without saying a word, and I take a deep breath, as I feel my head hit the pillow.

Still without saying a word, I trail my hand down from his chest to the zipper of his jeans. Taking the hint, he reaches down to undo the zipper, and I watch, as he pulls his jeans off, leaving him in just his boxers.

I can feel myself getting more nervous, and I can tell when he looks back at me that he can see it in my face.

"Do you want to stop?" he asks.

"No," I saw. "I'm okay."

As if to prove my point, I undo the zipper on my own jeans and pull them off of my legs before looking up at him again.

"You know we can stop any time you want," he says.

"I don't want to stop," I reply. "I want to do this with you. I'm just nervous."

"There's nothing to be nervous about," he says, leaning down to kiss my forehead. "I'm not going to do anything to hurt you."

"I know," I whisper.

He leans down to kiss me again. And that is when our hands begin to roam, seemingly unconsciously. It is as if we both want to learn as much about the other's body as we can. As if our hands want to memorize every inch. He brings his lips to my neck again, and I can't help it when a quiet moan escapes my mouth. After a moment, he looks up at me.

"I'm going to take this off," he says, his fingers resting on the side of my underwear. "Is that okay?"

"Yes," I answer breathlessly.

I take a deep breath, as I feel him pull my underwear off of my legs before hovering over my again.

"Should I take mine off, too?" he asks.

"Only if you want to," I repeat, smiling a little.

He smiles back before he reaches down to take his boxers off. He pulls my blanket over us, and I am grateful. I am not sure what it is- maybe it is the security blanket concept- but I realize that I feel a little more comfortable with the cover over us.

"Are you ready?" he asks.

I look up at him, and I nod at him.

"Yeah," I whisper.

He nods at me, as he reaches down to guide himself between my legs. I start to feel nervous again, as I realize that I have no idea what this is going to feel like. I don't know if it will feel good, if it will hurt.

As I feel him slowly push himself into me, I let out a gasp. I can tell that he is looking at me now, but I stare down still at our now connected centers.

"Does it hurt?" he asks.

"No, it's just pressure," I say. "It's okay."

He slowly pushes into me even more, and I breathe through it. It is definitely a pressure that I have never felt before, but I it doesn't feel bad, and I definitely don't want him to stop.

Eventually, when he is fully inside me, we look at each other, and I can't help but smile a little.

"Wow," I whisper.

"Yeah," he chuckles lightly.

Just as slowly, he starts to move in and out of me, and I breathe out shakily. As he moves, the pressure decreases. And I realize that it actually feels a little good. I feel electricity coursing through me again, and I gasp out again.

"Tris," he whispers, as buries his face in my neck.

I moan, as he starts to move just a little faster. I start to feel warmer, as the electricity courses through me. He groans a little, and I run my hand over his back.

"Tris," he gasps out, as he lifts his head to look at me again.

Another moan escapes me, as I feel him release inside me. He breathes heavily for a moment before I pull him down to kiss him again.

Minutes later when we have both relaxed, we simply lay there together, his arms around my bare body. We are laying next to each other, which means that we both end up staring back at each other. Every now and then, his hand moves around my body, as I trace a path from his face down to his shoulder and back. I close my eyes and smile a little, wishing that this moment never had to end.

"Tris?" he whispers.

I open my eyes and look at him.

"Hm?"

He looks at me thoughtfully for a moment before he brushes my hair back and places his hand on my waist.

"I love you," he says.

I smile again, as he stares back at me. I know how much it means for him to say this to me. I know that he doesn't mean it lightly. And he knows that I don't take it lightly. Which is why I'm sure that he will understand exactly what it means when I finally respond.

"I love you, too, Tobias," I whisper.


	20. Chapter 20

**Hi, beautiful people! To start off, I'm so so so sorry that this chapter is so short, but it's all I've had time and inspiration for. But the good news or bad news depending on how you think about it is that this story should be over in about 5 chapters! (I'm really bad at estimating, as you know if you read my other story Broken Together, but that is my current estimate.)**

 **Anyway, big thank you to Chickenlover313, 1991-Old-school-kid, Jojoboo90, Guest, jvoosen, Charms22, LUCY1925, Guest, fairytalebliss182, Guest, It'sHardIKnow, Betheny, and FDFobsessed for your kind words! I'm so glad that you guys liked the last chapter!**

 **Also to Chickenlover313: First off, cool name. I love chicken too. Second, no it's not abnegation Tobias. There have been a few mentions throughout the story that Tobias was an athlete in the past soo yeah, he's got something goin' on, but people avoid him in school because he's bullied so badly. Hope that clears things up!**

 **How was everyone's summer? Just asking because mine went by way too fast so I'd like to live vicariously through you guys if that's quite all right.**

 **Anywho, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Please let me know what you think! :)**

* * *

 **Tris POV**

* * *

Christina and I decided that we would do homework together on Saturday, and I know that I should be planning what we will study. But as I walk to her house, all I can think about it last night. I can't help but smile, as I think about it.

The way we just laid together after losing ourselves in each other for the first time. The way he kissed me, as he left. I can honestly say that it was the most beautiful experience of my life, and I have him to thank for being so careful and patient with me. I couldn't have asked for a better first time.

I take a breath and try to push it from my mind, as I step up to the front door of Christina's house. I knock lightly and wait for a moment until finally, the door swings open, revealing an older woman who looks a bit like Christina. She smiles at me, as she lets me into the house.

"You must be Tris," she says.

"And you must be Christina's mom," I reply. "It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you, too," she says, still smiling. "Christina is up in her room. You can go right up."

I thank her before walking toward the stairs. Once I get to the top, I look down the hall and see that one of the bedroom doors is open, and I can see light coming out of it. I walk toward the room, guessing that it must be Christina's, and I am proven right when I reach the doorway and see Christina laying on her bed with her phone in her hands. She looks up as I enter the room and smiles.

"Hey," she says, as she pushes herself into a sitting position. "Take a seat."

"Thanks," I say as I walk toward her bed.

I sit down and drop my bag on the floor. I push myself back until my back is against the wall before venturing to look at her. When I do look at her, I realize that she is staring at me with narrowed eyes.

"What?" I ask.

"Nothing, just..." she trails off, as she continues to stare at me. "You look different."

"Different how?"

I feel myself get a little nervous. I try to reassure myself that there is no way she could know about what I did with Tobias last night. But Christina has a strange way of knowing everything, it seems.

"Different, like maybe..." Her eyes widen a little. "Wait."

"It's nothing," I say a little too quickly.

She smirks, and I know that it is over.

"Were you with Tobias yesterday?" she asks so casually that you would think it was the start of a new conversation.

"Christina-"

"Oh my god," she cuts in. "Did you..."

I look at her, and I feel myself blush. I know that I won't be able to lie to her. She is basically a human lie detector. She gasps, as she makes the realization.

"Oh my god!" she nearly yells before lowering her voice. "Did you sleep with him?"

"Christina," I groan.

"You did!" She pushes herself onto her knees and bounces up and down a couple times. "Oh my god, you have to tell me about it!"

"What? I'm not gonna-"

"Wait, where did you get condoms from?" I stare back at her, and her smile fades. "You used a condom, didn't you?"

"Well... No."

"Tris!" she yells so loudly that I jump a little. "Are you crazy? Are you insane? Do you want a little mini Tris running around? Because that would be cute, but not yet!"

"It was just once!" I cut in. "Neither of us thought about it, I guess. It just happened."

"Well, it won't just happen again," she says, as she pushes herself off her bed. I watch, as she walks over to her desk and opens up one of the drawers. "I have something for you."

My face feels as if it is burning up with embarrassment by now, as she turns around, holding something. I realize that she is holding condoms in her hand, and I have to resist the urge to run and hide, as she saunters back over to me and hands the condoms to me.

"Here," she says. "Now you won't have to worry about any mini Tris's or Tobias's."

"Thanks," I mumble, as she sits down again.

I put the condoms in my bag, hoping that she will stop talking about this. But of course, it is never that easy with her.

"So, come on," she says, as I sit up again. "What was it like?"

"I really don't want to talk about this," I sigh.

"Why not?" she asks, seemingly genuinely confused. "Friends talk about stuff like this."

I stare back at her for a moment, as I consider this. I do feel that Christina has been a good friend, and I do enjoy having friends more than I would care to admit. Since friends have been so scarce for me in the past, I realize that it makes sense that regular conversations like this are out of my comfort zone. But I also realize that getting closer to my friends and stepping out of my comfort zone isn't a bad idea.

"Fine," I say. "It was... really amazing."

"Aw," she sighs. "Do you love him?"

"Yes," I say, smiling a bit. "I think I do."

"Aw," she says again before she leans in a little. "Is he big?"

"Christina!"

"Okay, okay," she says, holding her hands up in defense. "That's where we draw the line."

I roll my eyes at this, and she smirks.

"Fine," she continues. "We won't talk about it anymore. But there is something else I think we should talk about."

"What?" I ask.

"What are you guys planning to do about Peter and all of those assholes?" she asks. "I mean Lynn isn't always gonna be around to scare them off."

I nod and stay silent for a moment, as I consider my next words very carefully. I know that I can trust Christina, but I wonder to what extent. As I look up at her and prepare myself to speak, I realize that I am about to find out.

"I have a plan, actually," I say.

"Really?" she says.

"Yes. It's crazy, but I know it'll work. But you can't tell anyone about it, especially not Tobias."

She looks at me for a moment, seemingly unsure. She looks down at her lap, as if she is debating this in her head, but I decide to help her.

"It's a secret," I say. "Friends keep secrets for each other."

She looks up at me again, still clearly concerned. But this time, she nods slowly.

"Okay. Tell me."

* * *

Later that night, I sit on my bed with my phone in hand. I decided to call Tobias to see if he would come to martial arts with me tomorrow. I mostly wanted it to be tomorrow because Marlene said that she doesn't go on Sunday's, and I would prefer Tobias' first time there to be just with me.

"I think it would be really good for you," I say. "You could learn to fight and-"

"Tris, I told you," he cuts in. "I know _how_ to fight. I did wrestling in my last school. That doesn't mean I'm comfortable with fighting."

"It's not about comfort anymore, Tobias," I sigh. "And besides, you didn't let me finish. It's not just about learning how to fight, it's also about building confidence. I think maybe if you had more confidence, you would find it easier to stand up to Eric."

There is silence for a moment, and I know that he is considering my words. But before he can say anything, I decide to try one more time.

"Please, just try it once," I say. "If you don't like it, you don't have to come back. Just once."

I hear him let out a sigh before he finally responds.

"All right," he says. "Just once."

"Thank you," I say, smiling a little.

"I guess I should be thanking you," he says. "For getting me out of my comfort zone. You know, I've never met anyone like you."

I wrap my arms around my legs, wishing that he were here in my arms instead.

"You know I'd do anything for you, right?" I say quietly.

I close my eyes and let out a sigh, as he responds that he would too. I feel guilt tug at me. He is about to find out just how much I would do for him.


	21. Chapter 21

**Hey hey beautiful people! Some interesting things happening in life right now, but through it all, writing this story has been so therapeutic. I'm so glad you guys like it, and to the people who said they don't want it to end: ME NEITHER! But all good things must come to an end, unfortunately. I'm hoping to write another story after this one, but I'm still trying to figure out exactly what kind of story I want to do next. Shall keep you updated.**

 **Many thanks to Chickenlover313, goldensnitch1, Charms22, Katt1848, ManhattanSky, Guest, Betheny, fairytalebliss182, Guest, FDFobsessed, Wrenlovesreading, 1991-Old-school-kid, and It'sHardIKnow for your kind words. You guys make my day!**

 **WARNING, there is another M rated scene in this chapter. Again, not graphic but it's there, so if anyone's uncomfortable feel free to skip it.**

 **I hope you guys like this chapter. Please let me know what you think! :)**

* * *

 **Tobias POV**

* * *

"You weren't kidding," Tris says, as I hit the punching bag in front of me.

I look at her, as she stares back at me, her eyes wide.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"I mean, you really do know what you're doing," she says, her eyes flitting to the punching bag. "I wish I was as good as you."

I take a step toward her before taking both of her arms in my hands and gently bringing her over to stand in front of the punching bag.

"You will be," I say, as I stand behind her.

She nods a little before hitting the punching bag herself. As she goes, I give her comments here and there, but it seems that her friend already taught her quite well. And every time I make comments, she seems to take the criticism and improve a little bit each time.

Every time that I touch her to adjust her stance, I feel a strange type of desire course through me. Being so close to her and touching her every now and then seems to be reminding me of our first time together.

Of course, I love her for much more than that, but I would be lying if I said that I never think of her in that way. Before I met her, I barely even noticed the girls around school. But ever since our relationship started to get more physical, it seems that I feel the urge to grab her and kiss her every time that I am this close to her. But I know that I have to control it.

"Any better?" she asks, bringing my back to reality.

She looks over her shoulder at me, and I nod.

"Much better," I say.

She smiles a bit before turning back around and taking a breath. We continue for a few more minutes before she finally decides that we have done enough. Eventually, we leave the building, and we walk down the street together, hand-in-hand.

As we walk to her house, she talks about her friend, Marlene, and how she taught her the first time. As she talks, I find it a little hard to focus. With each step, I know that we are getting closer and closer to her house, and she said that we will be alone again. I know that I shouldn't expect anything, but it seems that my body is already reacting to the possibility, as the desire in me continues to grow with each step.

We reach her house, and she lets us in through the front door. We continue to talk, as I follow her up the stairs and to her room. She closes the door behind us, though I'm not sure why since no one is here. Finally, she turns to face me.

"Anyway, you did really well today," she says. "Clearly you didn't forget anything from your wrestling days."

I shrug my shoulders, as I sit down on her bed, and she moves closer to me.

"It's easy when you're hitting an inanimate object that can't feel pain," I say, as she moves to sit down in my lap. "It's different when you're actually going at someone. When you see the fear in someone's eyes."

"Tobias," she sighs, as I wrap my arms around her. "I know you don't want to fight. I understand why this is so hard for you, but-"

"I know what you're going to say," I cut in. "Just let me think about it. Okay?"

"Okay," she says hesitantly.

"Eric has been strangely quiet anyway," I say, pushing her hair over her shoulder. "Maybe he's finally starting to calm down."

"Whatever the case," she says, "he'll get what's coming to him."

"I hope so," I mutter.

I let out a sigh, as I look around her room for a moment. When I look back at her, the way that she is staring at me tells me that she wants to say something more. But she simply sits there, staring at me wordlessly. And just as I decide to ask her what it is, she leans into me and kisses me, and the desire in me is fueled even more. And although I know I should pull away and ask her what she wanted to say, a seemingly animalistic part of me just wants to continue.

I am not sure if it is because of me or her, but the kiss intensifies quickly. She brings her hand up to weave her fingers through my hair, and I grasp onto her hips to keep her on my lap. I pull away from her and lower myself to bring my lips to her neck. She lets out a quiet moan, as I kiss my way down her neck.

Once I have reached her collarbone, I pull back to look at her. When she looks back at me, I see the same desire in her eyes. And though the look in her eyes just fuels all of my wildest urges, I force myself to simply sit still and ask the question.

"Do you want to do this?" I ask.

She smiles a little and nods at me before bringing her lips to mine again. She pulls away only to pull her shirt off, but she immediately returns to the kiss, so quickly that I barely even have time to look at her beautiful body. I find myself trying to take it in with my hands instead; I let my hands move over her torso freely.

She slowly moves off of my lap and pulls me to lay down with her. Before she can pull me down, I pull off my own shirt then lay down with her. She smiles a little again, and I can't help but return it.

It is amazing that, even with all of the terrible things that life throws our way, we are still able to find comfort and happiness in each other.

Even as she runs her hands over my bare torso, I realize that I am more comfortable than I ever thought I would be in this position. Just the thought of baring myself to anyone else used to make me nervous. But she has managed to change that completely.

As my hands explore her body, I move them down to the hem of her jeans and start to gently pull them off of her legs. I glance at her face only to see that she is watching my hands remove her clothes with a certain kind of fascination.

"I want to do more for you this time," I say, making her look back at me.

"What do you mean?" she asks breathlessly.

"Well, I know that last time, you didn't... you know."

She blushes a little and bites her lip.

"You don't have to..." she trails off, seemingly unsure of what to say. "I enjoy it just because it's you."

I can't help but smile a little at that, and that seems to relax her a little.

"I still want to try something," I say. "Is that okay?"

She looks at me for a moment before she finally nods wordlessly. I lean down and kiss her again, as I reach under her to undo her bra. She arches her back so that I can reach it, and I unclasp it before pulling it off of her. I pull away from her and slowly look down at her bare chest, and she looks at the wall.

"Why do you insist on looking at me like that?" she says, seemingly half joking and half serious.

"Because I think you're beautiful," I say simply. She smiles just the slightest bit at this. "Can I touch you?"

She looks up at me at this. I can tell that she is a little nervous, but she nods her head.

"Yeah," she says. "I trust you."

I lean down and kiss her briefly, as if to reassure her, before I start to kiss my way down from her jaw, to her neck, to her collarbone. I continue down to kiss the soft skin between her breasts that I didn't get to explore last time. At the same time, I move my hand up her torso until I reach her breast. I run my hand over it and cup it in my hand gently, and she lets out a soft moan.

I move my hands down her torso again to pull off her underwear. Once it is off, I hover over her again, and she stares back at me as if she is waiting to see what I will do next.

"Do you still trust me?" I ask.

"Yes," she says. "Do you still want to try something?"

"Yes."

I smile, and she laughs a little before biting her lip. She nods, signaling for me to continue. I lean down and kiss her, and I bring my hand to her bare torso and slowly move my hand down, letting my fingertips skim over her skin as I go. I feel her falter for a moment, as my hand moves lower and lower. I pull away from her, and we look back at each other.

"It's just me," I whisper.

"I know," she says, the hint of a smile on her lips.

Finally, my fingers reach what I was looking for. My fingers move slowly, tentatively, over her flesh. She closes her eyes, as I explore her, slower and more purposefully than I was able to last time. She moans softly, as I trace her with my fingertips. She reaches down and puts her hand over mine and guides me to rub her in slow, small circles. Then, slowly, she takes her hand away from mine and lets me move on my own. I watch her, as she closes her eyes and starts to breathe shakily.

She moans and gasps every now and then, as I continue my movements, and with every noise that leaves her lips, I feel myself getting more and more excited to take her again.

Eventually, she moans my name, and I watch in awe, as her back arches off of the bed. She gasps and moans, as she clutches onto the bed sheets. I watch, as her body finally relaxes, and she seems to slowly come down, still panting the entire time. As she relaxes, I take my hand away from her and move it to rest on her hip.

I lean down to kiss her, though it seems that she is barely able to kiss me back. When I pull away, she opens her eyes and looks at me.

"You're amazing," she breathes out.

" _You're_ amazing," I say quietly. "I love you."

"I love you, too," she says. "No matter what."

* * *

Once I have visited Tris at her locker, I start walking down the hallway and to the library. She still urges me to sit with her and her friends at lunch, but tutoring Uriah seems to be the perfect excuse to avoid that. I wouldn't mind sitting with her, but I am not too thrilled to be around a group of people for a such a long time, especially people that I do not know very well.

As I walk, I can sense that someone is behind me. But I try to convince myself that I am just being paranoid; anyone could be in the hallways right now. It could just be someone else walking to the cafeteria.

But that theory is thrown out the window when I feel someone push me from behind. I fall forward onto my hands and knees, and I hear the familiar sound of Eric's laughter behind me, as well as someone else's.

I stand up and turn to face them, and I find myself looking back at Peter and Eric, both wearing smirks. Before I can even think, I move toward them and push Eric back. It is not enough to push him to the floor as well, but I can tell that he wasn't expecting it, and he seems to pause for a moment before he reacts.

"Oh, it's gonna be like that?" he says.

He seems to recover quickly. And I only say that because he immediately pushes me against the wall, hard. Before I can do anything else, they both start to walk away.

"Watch yourself, Eaton," Eric mutters, as they leave.

I shake my head and try not to get angry, as I stand up straight again. I can feel pain in my back, but I try to ignore it. As I walk, I try to wrap my head around the fact that I finally stood up for myself, even though it didn't really make a difference. It felt strange, almost like I had some power in a situation where I have always felt powerless.

One of my greatest fears with fighting others has been seeing the fear in the other person's eyes. But Eric is certainly not afraid of me. And I'm not sure if it is a good thing or not, but that fact actually seemed to make it easier to fight back against him.

When I get to the library, I see that Uriah is already at the table, waiting for me. Hana is also at the front desk, and she smiles at me, as I walk in. I nod at her before walking over to the table. Uriah looks up, as I sit down, and he grins.

"What?" I ask.

"You're not gonna believe this," he says, as he pulls a paper out of his backpack. "Read it and weep!"

I take the paper out of his hand only to see that it is his most recent physics test with a grade on top.

"You got a-"

"C!" Uriah exclaims, still grinning. "A solid C! I am average, my friend!"

"Huh," I snort. "Well, good for you."

"I couldn't have done it without you, man," he says genuinely. "Hell, with your help, maybe I could be a straight-A nerd by the end of the year!"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves."

I look up, as Hana walks over to our table and smiles at me.

"I see Uriah's told you the good news," she says.

"He has," I nod. "You must be very proud."

"Oh..." She gently pats his shoulder, and he grins. "That's one word for it."

"Thanks, Mom!"

I chuckle a little, making Uriah shoot me a look.

"Anyway, I came over to talk to you, Tobias," she says. "I know that meeting here during lunch isn't exactly convenient for either of you. Especially now that you have a girlfriend-"

"What?" I cut in.

"I took the liberty of telling her about Tris," Uriah smirks. "No need to thank me."

"I was thinking," Hana continues, obviously used to back and forth like this. "If you'd like to come over after school instead to tutor Uriah, I just want you to know that you are more than welcome."

"Thank you," I say. "I appreciate that."

She nods and smiles.

"I'll leave you to it."

She walks away, and I look at Uriah who is still smirking.

"When your GPA is as high as mine, then you can smirk." His smirk disappears, and he rolls his eyes. "Let's get to it, Mr. Average."

Once we have finished the tutoring session, the day continues normally. I decide that I will tell Tris about Hana's offer during gym class. I'm sure that she will be overjoyed that I will finally be able to sit with her friends at lunch, no matter how much I may be dreading it.

Surprisingly, though, when I get into gym class, she is nowhere to be seen. I watch the clock for the entire period, hoping that she will just come in late, but she never shows.

Once class is over, we walk back into the locker rooms to change. As everyone else changes, I pull my phone out of my backpack and see that I have a text from Tris. I look around to make sure the teacher isn't around before I look back down at my phone and open the text.

And immediately, I feel my heart sink.


	22. Chapter 22

**Hi, friends! I'm glad you guys liked the cliffhanger because I have a feeling you're going to hate me for this chapter, but that's okay! You can hate me as long as you don't hate the story!**

 **That being said, I'm issuing a TRIGGER WARNING for this chapter, regarding sexual assault. As usual, nothing is graphic, but if you are worried about reading, just let me know!**

 **I also apologize if there's any typos or anything in this chapter, I wrote this chapter fairly fast.**

 **Thank you to Chickenlover313, jvoosen, goldensnitch1, Guest, LUCY1925, Katt1848, ManhattanSky, Charms22, Strangerdivergentthings, 1991-Old-school-kid, FDFobsessed, It'sHardIKnow, and Sawyerrr for your kind words on the last chapter. It is always appreciated.**

 **I hope you guys like this chapter. Please let me know what you think :)**

* * *

 **Tris POV**

* * *

 _I really think you should reconsider. I don't feel good about this._

I let out a sigh, as I read over Christina's text before I type out a response. Tobias left a few hours ago, so I decided to text Christina to let her know that I'll be following through with my plan tomorrow at school. I haven't told her where it will be because I don't want her to try to interfere, but I felt that I should tell her beforehand so that she wouldn't be shocked by the aftermath. Unfortunately, I could only tell her and not Tobias, since he would do everything in his power to stop me if he knew.

I lay back in my bed, resting my phone on my stomach, as I stare up at the ceiling. I bite my lip, as I start to think about what just happened a few hours ago. Before I met Tobias, I never could have even imagined having sex at this age. I couldn't even imagine what it would be like for someone to love me the way he does.

And as I just lay there thinking about it, I start to feel sadness settle over me. If my plan unfolds the way that I want it to, there's a chance that Tobias will be so upset with me that he won't want to even talk to me anymore. The thought of losing him hurts, but if it means that he will be safe from Eric, I have to do it.

"Beatrice?" I look up, as I hear my mother knock lightly on my door.

"Come in."

I sit up and pull my knees into my chest, as she opens the door and lets herself in. She closes the door behind her and walks toward my bed. But instead of smiling at me like she normally does, she watches the ground, as she sits down on the bed next to me.

"What's going on?" I ask.

She looks up at me and takes a breath.

"Honey, I think we should talk," she says slowly, "about what I found while I was taking out the trash today."

I feel my whole body freeze, as she stares back at me. In an attempt to be safe this time, I used one of the condoms that Christina gave me. Once Tobias left, I tried to cover it with the rest of my trash so that nobody would see it, but I suppose it must have come out somehow.

"What?" I say, as if stalling will make this conversation any less uncomfortable.

"I think you know what," she says, giving me a knowing look. "And I think, maybe we should have had this talk a long time ago-"

"We really don't have to-"

"Beatrice, of course we do!" she cuts in. "Did you... Was it..."

She stops and looks away, clearly uncomfortable, before she takes a breath and tries again.

"Did you have sex with someone in the house while we were gone?" she asks slowly.

"I..." I trail off, as she looks at me. I know just from the look on her face that she already knows, and I cannot lie to her. I look down at my knees and whisper my answer. "Yes."

"Was it that boy that you've been telling me about?" she asks.

"Yes," I whisper before forcing myself to look up at her. "But he's not like that. I mean, it's not what you think. He's really-"

"Beatrice," she says, making me stop short. "You've told me enough about him for me to know that he treats you well. That's not what I'm concerned about. I just want you to be sure... Well, I want you to be sure that you're being safe and that you're only doing things that you're comfortable with. That you're not doing things just because someone else wants you to."

"Of course not," I say. "Besides, he would never pressure me into anything."

"All right," she sighs. "Well I can't say I approve, but..."

I nod in understanding, as she shakes her head.

"Does Dad know?"

"No, and I think we should keep it that way," she says quickly.

I nod again before looking down at my knees again and wringing my fingers nervously.

"Well, now that that's out of the way," she sighs. "I wanted to talk to you about something else, too."

"Oh god," I mumble.

"Beatrice," she says, making me look up at her. "I wanted to ask you how school is going. You haven't been talking about it as much as you did when you first started."

"It's going fine," I shrug.

She looks back at me for a moment, clearly concerned.

"Honey," she says, moving a little closer to me. "Do you know what I really remember about last time?"

"What?" I ask.

"I remember," she says slowly, "how you would come home from school, a little more dejected everyday. I remember how you would talk about school less and less. And you would just come home and go right to your room, and..."

I feel a sense of shame, as she trails off. I know that she didn't know how bad things were until she caught me in my room, ready to drink a bottle of bleach. I know that she must feel guilty when she looks back and thinks about things like this, but I don't want her to.

"This isn't the same thing," I say. "It's not going to end the same way."

She looks at me for a moment before she reaches up and pushes my hair behind my ear.

"Beatrice, you know that I love you so much. If something is happening again, I need you to tell me right away."

"Mom-"

"There are other options," she says. "I don't think we explored homeschooling enough. If things are bad again, we can always-"

"I don't want to be homeschooled," I cut in. "I'm happy where I am."

She sighs and hesitates for a moment before she finally speaks again.

"Are you sure?"

I nod just as hesitantly.

"Yes, I'm sure."

* * *

I make sure to get to school early the next morning. When I get there, there is barely anyone in the hallways, which is exactly what I was hoping for. I walk down the hallways, trying my best not to lose my nerve.

When I reach the locker that I figured out is Eric's, I look at it for a moment before I reach into my pocket and pull out the note. I look down at the folded up note before I reach up to slip it into the slot on his locker.

As soon as I feel the paper fall into the locker, I stare at the locker for a moment, as if it will open itself up to give me a chance to take the paper back. But of course, it doesn't.

I let out a sigh, as I force myself to look away and start walking down the hallway. I find myself staring at the floor, as I walk. The entire time that I walk, I just keep thinking about what this note will lead to.

It's just a matter of time now.

"Hey."

I look up and see Tobias sitting down the hallway in front of my locker. He starts to stand up, as I walk toward him.

"Hey," I reply.

When I reach him, I wrap my arms around his neck, and he returns the embrace immediately. He kisses me briefly before I pull away to open my locker.

"Are you okay?" he asks.

"Yeah," I say, as I pull the door open. "Why?"

"You just looked a little out of it."

I look back at him, as I drop my bag on the floor in front of my locker. Of course he could tell that I was out of it. He knows me too well. But I realize that I cannot let him figure out what is going on.

"Maybe I was just thinking about yesterday," I say, forcing a smile.

He smiles a little, too, as he puts his arm around my waist and draws me closer to him. I lean into him and press my lips to his, and he kisses me back without hesitation. I bring my hand to his cheek, as we kiss, and he tightens his arms around me. When we eventually pull apart, he leave his forehead resting on mine. We look back at each other for a moment.

"I love you, Tobias. You know that, right?"

"Of course, I know that," he says, smirking a little. "I love you, too."

I bite my lip, as I wrap my arms around his neck and rest my head on his shoulder. We simply stand there for a moment. I close my eyes, as I try to absorb everything about the moment.

After today, he may never want to see me, much less touch me, again. I have to take in everything about him that I can, now.

"I love you," I mumble again.

* * *

I am ready.

I cannot believe that I am really thinking that, but I really feel ready. I have planned everything leading up to this moment. And though I am terrified, I realize that I am ready to make things right.

That is why I simply stand there patiently in the auditorium's backstage area and wait.

Finally, I hear the door open. I turn around only to see Peter and Eric walking in. Though he is wearing his usual smirk, I can tell that he is also a little confused. I am sure that he didn't come into school today expecting a note from me, asking him to meet me here.

"What's going on?" he asks, as they walk toward me. "Finally tired of Eaton?"

I look down and take a step away from them before turning to face them again.

"I want to know why you're going after him," I say.

He snorts a little, and the two of them smirk back at each other before he looks at me again.

"Do I need a reason?"

I look back at them for a moment, as Peter nudges Eric.

"I think I know why she wanted you to come down here," Peter says. "Maybe she finally realized that Eaton can't take care of her."

Peter takes a step toward me, and I force myself to stay standing where I am, even though every part of me is telling me to run.

"Why bring Eric into it?" he says in a quiet voice that gives me chills. "You should know from before that I can take care of you."

"Down, boy," Eric says with a smirk.

"What will it take for you to leave him alone?" I say as steadily as I can.

"Oh, we're bargaining now," Eric chuckles.

"Maybe if you had something more impressive to offer," Peter says, looking my body up and down.

"What were you really hoping to accomplish with this?" Eric says, as he takes a couple of steps toward me as well. "You're here with us, alone. There's no one here to stop us from doing whatever we want. And there's no one to stop us from also doing whatever we want to Eaton as soon as we leave here."

"You seem like a man of your word," I mutter.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asks.

"It means I'm willing to make a deal if you're willing to leave him alone."

They look at each other for a moment, and I start to feel a little hopeful, as they actually seem to be considering it. But then, I feel my hope fade away, as they smirk back at each other and then look at me again.

"I don't think so," Eric says. "What can I say? It's just too much fun."

"He _is_ having fun," Peter says. "I think maybe I should be having fun, too."

Eric rolls his eyes and chuckles a little at this. I feel my body go hot and cold at the same time, as Peter takes another step toward me.

I gasp, as he reaches forward to grab me. I struggle against him, making him push me backward onto the floor. He kneels down over my and pushes me down, and I can feel sheer terror coursing through me, as he tries to pin me down on the floor.

I fight against him frantically, all of Tobias and Marlene's lessons completely erased from my mind. He groans, as I actually manage to hit him once, and it is only then that I realize that I am breathing so quickly that I might start hyperventilating at any moment.

"Can we speed this up a little?" Eric says, seemingly frustrated.

"She's surprisingly strong," Peter mutters.

He grabs me by my shoulders to pull me forward before he pushes me back down, hard. Hard enough that the wind gets knocked out of me, and he has time to bring his hands to the zipper of my jeans. As soon as I come back to my sense, I hit him again, as hard as I can, and we begin to struggle against each other again.

I hear Eric groan before he crouches down next to Peter and reaches toward me to hold me down. My chest begins to hurt from how hard I am breathing and how hard I am trying not to cry, as I fight against both of them.

"Shit," Eric says, as he looks up. "I hear something, get up."

As they both quickly get up, I try to get up as well, but Peter pushes me back one more time before they both hurry away, leaving me laying in the dark.

I just lay there for a moment, shaking, panting, until I am sure that they are gone. The silence settles over me, and I realize just how much adrenaline is coursing through me. And I know that as soon as the adrenaline starts to dissolve, everything will come out in the form of tears.

With that thought, I slowly roll over onto my stomach and crawl toward the wall. As soon as my eyes find it, I hold out my shaking arm to pick up my phone, which was propped against the wall. I bring it closer to me and press the stop button.

And then, I give myself just one more moment to lay there and let the adrenaline course through me.


	23. Chapter 23

**Hey there. So it seems like some people aren't really liking this anymore, which kinda sucks, but I guess that's to be expected sometimes. So, even though that's the case, I still want to finish this story for myself because I was really excited about writing this story, and I don't want it to go unfinished. I also want to finish it for the few people who have stuck with me this far, because I truly appreciate you guys. I might just try to finish it a little faster than I originally planned.**

 **Anyway, thank you to** **goldensnitch1, Katt1848, Chickenlover313, jvoosen, Charms22, Wrenlovesreading, It'sHardIKnow, Katu, 46, and FDFobsessed for your comments. As I said, it is always appreciated!**

 **Also to Katu: Bienvenido! Me hace tan feliz que practicabas ingles para esta historia. Aprecio sus palabras! Puedes ver que todavia estoy aprendiendo espa~ol, pero quiero probar como ti! Jaja!**

 **I hope you guys like this chapter. Please let me know what you think. :)**

* * *

 **Tobias POV**

* * *

All I know is that she put herself at risk. That she is now waiting for me at the school's main office. But her texts were so vague, that I find myself trying to piece things together in my head, as I hurry down the hallways. My mind keeps coming up with the worst scenarios possible, and I feel myself getting more and more nervous with every step I take.

"Hey, Eaton!" I roll my eyes, as I hear Eric behind me, but I don't stop. "Hey, I'm talking to you!"

Suddenly, I feel someone grab me, and I turn around only to find myself face-to-face with Eric, as Peter stands behind him, watching us.

"What did you do to her?" I nearly growl.

"What are you talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about."

He stares back at me for a moment before he starts to smirk a little. He looks over his shoulder at Peter for a moment before he turns to face me again.

"I don't know what you're so upset about," he says. "She came to _us_. Clearly, she finally realized she wanted a real man. But don't worry, we took good care of her."

I feel the color drain from my face, as I realize the implication of his words. And before I can even bring myself to think straight, an almost animalistic part of me takes over, and I push him before I can even think to stop myself. His smirk disappears immediately.

"Really, you want to do this again?" he says. "Like you don't know how it ends every time?"

"I'm sick of this," I mutter. "I've put up with your shit for a long time, but you had no right to hurt her."

"We didn't hurt her," he says, taking another step closer to close the space between us. "She was asking for it."

Suddenly, my entire body seems to tense up. Heat seems to rush into my head, and the animalistic part of me takes over completely. I push him hard, but it seems like he was expecting that reaction, since he immediately pushes me back and swings at me.

I don't feel the pain of the impact. I don't feel anything. Everything becomes surreal, as my body almost instinctively attacks him as violently as it can. I vaguely register the sound of students gathering around us, as we fight. Nothing seems to make sense, and I can't think. The only thing I know for sure is that I want to hurt him for ever hurting her in the first place.

I _want_ to hurt him.

I grab him and push him back into the lockers as hard as I can, and he immediately regains his footing and lunges back at me. I hit him again, and I vaguely register one voice that stands out over the crowd, but I don't know what the voice is saying or whose voice it is. I go to hit him again, and this time, I see a flash of blonde hair.

"Stop!" the voice calls out.

But I don't. I feel the impact of my hand on someone's skin, and suddenly, the animalistic part of me is gone. I simply stand there, panting, as I stare down at the person who absorbed the blow.

From her place on the floor, Tris stares up at me, seemingly equally stunned by what just happened.

Finally, I begin to feel the aching pain in my fist. But nothing compares to the shame that I start to feel, as I stare back at her. As I see the fear in her eyes and realize that even Eric is stunned by what has just happened. I can feel everyone's eyes on me. Everything is still.

"Break it up!"

I look around only to see one of the teachers pushing her way through all of the students who have gathered around us. I simply stand there, unable to move, as everyone begins to disperse and the teacher helps Tris off the floor.

Even as another teacher comes to get Eric and me, I can't stop watching her. She looks over her shoulder at me, as the other teacher starts walking away with her. And the last thing I see is the fear, that fucking fear, in her eyes.

* * *

 **Tris POV**

* * *

"Beatrice!"

I look up from my place on the cot in the nurse's office, as my mother rushes into the room. Concern is clearly written on her face, and the look makes me sick. I know what is coming. And I know that telling her the truth isn't going to be easy. I realize that her eyes are glassy as if she is about to cry.

"What is going on?" she asks, as she sits down on the cot next to me and takes my hand. "Your principal told me about the... video, about the fight-"

"I lied to you," I blurt out, my voice shaking.

It is only then that I realize that I am also about to cry. It seems that everything that I have been trying to ignore has finally caught up with me.

"Honey," she whispers, as one of her tears starts to come out.

"It was never better," I say, hating that my voice shakes with every word I say. "It got so much worse. I didn't even think it could get worse, Mom."

"Beatrice-"

"I was almost raped, Mom!" I blurt, and I can see the pain that my words are causing her. But I realize that I can't stop. "They're monsters, they're all fucking monsters! It's never gonna get better, wherever I go-"

"Honey, please don't say that," she says, her voice shaking just as much as mine.

"I should have just drank the fucking bleach when I had the chance," I cry.

Suddenly, everything seems to collapse on me at once. My body slumps forward, and I curl into myself, as sobs begin to rack through my body. I feel her put her arms around me tightly, and she holds me against her. After a moment, I feel her shake a little, and I realize that she is crying too.

From the doorway, I hear the nurse say something, but I can't make it out. I can only make out what my mother says in response.

"I know," she says shakily. "I'm going to take her to the hospital when she calms down."

Her words seem to make me cry even harder, which I didn't think was possible. She tightens her arms around me and kisses the top of my head before taking a shaky breath.

"It's okay, sweetheart," she whispers. "It's going to be okay."


	24. Chapter 24

**Hey there, beautiful people. I just want to apologize for my last author's note. I was in no way trying to imply that the people still following this story don't matter. It seems like you guys didn't take it that way, but I realized after posting that it could be taken that way, so I just wanted to clarify. I was just in a really bad place when I posted last, so I kinda let that out, but not in the best way.**

 **My point is I'm very grateful for everyone who is still here reading this story, and I'm so glad that you guys like it still! Just to let you guys know, after reading your supportive comments, I've decided I am not going to speed up this story. Instead, I am going to write it how I originally planned which means that there should be about 6-7 chapters left!**

 **Thank you to Chickenlover313, Guest, Michaela46, NoOneHasNoName, five, Era1, jvoosen, Charms22, Katt1848, Ane, 1991-Old-school-kid, goldensnitch1, Wrenlovesreading, mandy16at, ManhattanSky, and FDFobsessed for your words. I greatly appreciate all of you, and I'm grateful for your support.**

 **For the people who mentioned that this story has been helping you get through things (I won't specify who): Know that you can always message me if you need to talk.**

 **Anyway, I hope you guys like this chapter. Please let me know what you think!**

* * *

 **Tris POV**

* * *

My eyes open slowly, and everything is blurry around me. Slowly but surely, my eyes begin to focus, and I realize that I am lying in the hospital bed, and my mother is in the chair next to my bed, staring back at me, clearly upset. She smiles just the slightest bit, as I look back at her, and she strokes my hand gently.

I consider asking what is going on, but I know better. Before I fell asleep, I remember having a nervous breakdown that started at the nurse's office at school and lasted until I got to the hospital. Through my panic, I remember hearing them say that I needed to be sedated, so I have to assume that that is why I fell asleep. And that must be why I feel so sluggish now.

"How are you feeling?" my mom asks, as she strokes me hand.

"I've been better," I say. Suddenly, I realize how dry my mouth is. "Could I have some water?"

She reaches for a tray near my bed and picks up a cup of water. I take it from her and thank her quietly before bringing it to my lips. I put it back down on the tray and look down at my lap, though I can still sense her staring at me.

"Mom," I say quietly without looking at her. "I'm really sorry about the things I said before."

There is silence for a moment before she leans in closer and brushes my hair away from my face, making me look up.

"You never have to be sorry about feeling that way," she says. "I just wish that you would be honest with me."

"But that's what I mean, I don't feel that way. I don't..." I shake my head a little, as I try to find a better way to say it. But I can't. "I don't want to die anymore. I just didn't know how to handle what was going on."

"That's when you come to me," she says softly, her eyes starting to get glassy. "I'm always here to help you. You just need to trust me and come to me as soon as things start getting bad. I mean it, Beatrice. This can't happen again."

"It won't," I nearly whisper. "I promise."

She nods and lets out a shaky breath before she moves to wrap her arms around me. I return the embrace and bury my face in her shoulder.

"I love you, Beatrice," she says.

"I love you, too." Eventually, she pulls away and takes another deep breath, as she sits back down. "Mom?"

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"Where's Dad?" I ask.

"He's home," she says. "I thought it would be better that he stay home with Caleb. But he knows what's going on."

"Okay." I nod. "How long will I be here?"

"I think they said they're going to keep you for a couple of days," she sighs. "But don't worry, I'll be here the whole time."

I let out a sigh, as I lean back on the pillow behind me. I knew from last time that they would want to keep me for a couple of days because of my comment about drinking bleach, but I was hoping that because I wasn't actually caught with bleach this time that they might not keep me as long.

"Can I call my friends?" I ask.

"I'm sorry, honey," she says. "But you can't have any visitors besides family just yet."

"I just want to call one person-"

"Beatrice, your friends can wait," she says. "Please, just focus on getting better."

* * *

 **Tobias POV**

* * *

I stare at the wall across from me, as I wait for Amar outside of the principal's office. As I sit there, the silence almost drives me crazy.

Apparently, after seeing Tris' video, the principal decided that Eric and Peter should be taken to the police station. Of course, the crowd that gathered around us while we were fighting was nothing compared to the crowd that gathered while Eric and Peter were being taken away by the police.

By the time the principal got to me, it wasn't surprising that they decided to suspend me for three days for being part of the fight. That doesn't really matter to me. What matters is that Amar is going to pick up Eric from the police station later and bring him home, and he will have three full days to take his revenge.

I look up, as Amar walks out of the principal's office. He looks at me for a moment before he moves to sit down next to me, and I look down at my lap.

"Four," he says, making me look at him hesitantly. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" I mutter.

"When you told me about what was going on with Eric, I should have done more." He sighs. "We never should have gotten here, and I'm sorry."

"Doesn't matter."

I look down, and I hear him sigh again.

"Well, as you probably know, Eric may be away for a while," he says. "Probably until the trial."

"Trial?" I look at him, confused. "There's going to be a trial?"

"Yes," he nods. "That girl's parents have decided to press charges."

I look away, as I really consider this. I cannot begin to imagine the stress that Tris is facing now, after what just happened, and now with a trial coming up. And as much as I want to be there for her, I know that I can't. Even if she would accept me after what has happened, I know that I could never forgive myself for what I did to her. I will never forget the feeling of shame that coursed through me as soon as I realized that I had hit her. I will never forget the fear in her eyes, as she looked at me. I know that it was because she was seeing me, the real me, for the first time. And after seeing this side of me, I don't see how she could ever bring herself to love me again. As much as it hurts to think about not having her in my life anymore, I know that it would hurt even more to see her everyday, knowing what I did to her.

"Come on," Amar says, breaking me from my thoughts. "Let's go home, we can talk about it more later."

I nod at him and force myself to stand up and follow him, as he walks toward the school's exit. We walk out together and toward the car. As we walk, I look at the bench where Tris and I would always meet each other at the end of the day, and I hate that I actually feel a twinge of pain, as I look at it. I look forward and keep walking with Amar, trying not to think about it.

"Hey!" Amar and I both look at each other, as someone yells from behind us. "Hey, Tobias! Wait up!"

I look over my shoulder only to see Uriah hurrying over to us, waving as if I can't already see him. I look back at Amar who nods at me in understanding.

"I'll give you a minute," he says, as he starts to walk away again. "I'll be in the car."

I nod at him before turning to face Uriah. Finally, he stops in front of me and looks past me, probably at Amar, before he looks at me again.

"So?" he says expectantly.

"So, what?" I ask.

"Are you kidding?" he scoffs. "Dude, what happened?"

"I-"

"I mean, I know what happened, but..." He shakes his head and gestures toward me. "What happened?"

"I don't know," I mutter. "I lost it."

"Well, you didn't mean to hit her, did you?"

I look at him, suddenly feeling angry at the implication of his words.

"Of course not."

He sighs and looks away thoughtfully for a moment.

"Well, look, I'm gonna call Tris and see if she wants to talk or a visit or anything. Why don't you come with me?"

"I don't think so," I mutter.

"Dude, come on," he says, nudging me. "She knows you didn't do it on purpose. Hell, with everything she's dealing with, I bet she wants to see you way more than she wants to see me."

"Uriah," I say as steadily as I can. "Even if she does forgive me, she shouldn't."

I turn and start to walk away before he can say anything else, and I feel him watching me, as I walk toward the parking lot. He calls out after me, but I ignore it. There is no use in standing there arguing with him when I know the truth.

I don't deserve her. She'll be better off without me.


	25. Chapter 25

**Hey, all! Sorry for taking so long to update, and sorry that this one is kinda short. So much has been going on lately that I've been a little too out of it to really do any writing as much as I want to. Hopefully that'll change, but either way I'm definitely going to finish this story.**

 **Anyway, this is the last chapter before the trial so brace yourselves!**

 **Thank you to goldensnitch1, Chickenlover313, NoOneHasNoName, ManhattanSky, Katt1848, Ane, Charms22, Wrenlovesreading, Guest, It'sHardIKnow, 1991-Old-school-kid, FDFobsessed, LOL, Chanelx, Jojoboo90, and Guest for your kind words! It is always appreciated!**

 **I hope you guys like this chapter. Please let me know what you think :)**

* * *

 **Tris POV**

* * *

It is a terrible feeling to feel like a stranger in your own home. But that is exactly how I feel, as I walk into my room and look around. I slowly walk over to the bed and sit down on the edge before I look up at my mother who is still standing in the doorway.

"Are you sure you don't need anything?" she asks.

I shake my head at her.

"I think I just want to relax a little," I say.

She nods at me and looks down before she starts walking toward me. I watch her, as she sits down next to me and looks around my room as well.

"Well, while you're up here, I'll go downstairs," she says, "and I'll discuss homeschooling with your father."

"Mom," I sigh. "I told you, I just need one more chance-"

"I'll discuss it with your father," she says decidedly. "And if he thinks you should have another chance, then that's what we'll do."

I nod hesitantly, knowing that there is nothing that I can say right now that will change her mind. We simply sit there in silence for a moment before she reaches into her pocket and holds something toward me.

"You can have this back now," she says.

I look down only to see that she is holding my cell phone in her hand. I take it from her wordlessly, and I can feel her eyes on me.

"You can call your friends now, if you want," she says.

I nod wordlessly. She gently kisses the top of my head before she stands up and walks toward the door. I watch her, as she walks through the door, and I hear her walk downstairs. This is just one of the new rules that my parents have instituted; my door must be open all the time.

I let out a sigh, as I look down at my phone again. I press the button to turn the screen on, and I see an abundance of missed calls and messages, mostly from Uriah and Christina. But of course, nothing from Tobias. I feel my heart drop at this realization, and before I can change my mind, I start dialing his number.

I bring my phone to my ear and wait. And I guess I shouldn't be surprised when it goes straight to voicemail, but it still hurts.

I look down at my phone again and start dialing another number instead. I bring my phone to my ear again and wait, as it rings.

"Holy shit, where have you been?" the person says as soon as the ringing stops.

"Hey, Uriah," I say, rolling my eyes. "I need to talk to you. Can I come over?"

"Yeah, sure!"

"Thanks."

I hang up the phone before he can say anything else, and I stand up from my bed. I head downstairs, and I can hear my parents voices from the kitchen. I follow the sound until I am in the doorway of the kitchen. As soon as I get there, they both stop talking and look at me, and I realize that they must have been talking about me.

"Could I go see one of my friends?" I ask.

For a moment, they do not respond. Instead, they look at each other, and it seems as if they are having an entire conversation with each other just through their eyes before they finally turn back to me, and my mother responds.

"Just don't be long," she says.

I nod at them before turning around and walking away. Only when I reach the front door do they finally start talking in hushed voices again. I let out a sigh, as I let myself through the front door.

As I walk, I can't help but wonder when things will even out again. After my mom caught me trying to drink bleach for the first time, things were so tense for a long time, but eventually things went back to normal. I can only hope that things will go back to normal again soon.

My eyes start to wander, as I approach Uriah's house. As I walk, my eyes land on the house across the street that I know Tobias is in. And it seems that my feet start taking me in that direction instead before I can overthink it.

I realize that even though everything is complicated right now, I just want to see him, to be near him, more than anything.

I take a deep breath, as I knock on the door and wait. Every second that I wait is agonizing, but I force myself to stand there until finally, the door opens, and I find myself looking back at Tobias' foster sister. She looks at me expectantly before she finally speaks.

"Yes?" she says.

"Is Tobias here?" I ask.

She looks over her shoulder for a moment before she looks back at me and shrugs.

"No, sorry."

I feel my heart sink, but I force myself to simply nod at her.

"Okay," I say more quietly than I meant to. "Can you just tell him to call me?"

"Tris, right?"

I nod at her again. For just a second, I wonder how she knows my name, but I figure that either Tobias told her about me or she heard about what happened.

"Yeah," I say.

She nods back and takes a step back.

"I'll tell him," she says shortly.

Before I can say anything else, she closes the door. I stand there and stare at it for a moment, as if Tobias will appear if I stand there long enough. Until finally, I force myself to turn around and start toward Uriah's house.

I need to talk to somebody, even if it isn't Tobias.

* * *

 **Tobias POV**

* * *

I watch from the bottom of the stairs, as Lauren closes the door before turning to face me. She stands there with her hands on her hips, looking at me expectantly. I raise an eyebrow at her, and she rolls her eyes at me.

"And why aren't you here?" she asks.

"None of your business," I mutter, as I start walking toward the living room.

I can sense her behind me, as I walk.

"It becomes my business when I have to lie for you," she says.

I sit down on the couch, and she stands in front of me with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Not like it's the first time," I mutter.

"Won't be the last time," she says, rolling her eyes again. "Whatever."

"Whatever," I murmur, as I lean back and close my eyes.

I hear her start to walk out of the room. But of course, she has to get to me before she leaves.

"You'll see her at the trial anyway."


	26. Chapter 26

**Hi, all you beautiful people. So here it is, the trial I promised! I have to admit it may not be the best because I didn't get to do as much research as I wanted to, but I did what I could.**

 **Anyway, thank you to** **jvoosen, FDFobsessed, Guest, It'sHardIKnow, goldensnitch1, Charms22, Katt1848, Wrenlovesreading, Chickenlover313, Naruisawesome, and amazingnaomi for your kind words! I always appreciate it!**

 **I hope that you guys like this chapter! Please let me know what you think! :)**

* * *

 **Tobias POV**

* * *

I look around, as everyone walks around or talks in their own small groups. I lost Amar some time ago, since someone from the neighborhood wanted to talk to him. I turned away from a moment, and he was gone. Lauren stands next to me, also looking around at everyone who has gathered in the court house.

"I can't believe we really have to be here for this," she mutters. I shrug at this but say nothing. "Hey, your girlfriend's here."

I look where she is looking and see Tris standing across the way, surrounded by who I assume are her parents and some other people. She simply stands there silently while her parents talk with the other people, and I can tell that she is too nervous to pay attention to their conversation. She looks down at the ground for a moment before she looks up, and her eyes lock on mine.

I look back at her for a moment, unable to look away for some reason I can't figure out. She stares at me for a moment before she looks away, as her mother seems to say something to her. I force myself to look down, and I can feel Lauren looking at me.

"You're not gonna talk to her?" she says.

I shake my head and shrug.

"Not now," I mutter.

"Well, it's gonna be really awkward if you just stand here while she tries to talk to you."

"What?"

I look up only to see Lauren looking in the other direction. I look where she is looking and see Tris walking toward us. I look away and take a deep breath.

"Hi." I look at her, as she finally stops in front of us. "Can I talk to you?"

Lauren nudges me and smirks a little.

"I'm gonna go find Amar," she says.

I resist the urge to roll my eyes, as she walks away, leaving Tris and me alone. I force myself to look at her only to see that she was already staring back at me. As I look back at her, I realize that behind the nerves, there is a strange intensity in her eyes that I can't quite place.

"Where have you been?" she asks quietly.

"Around," I say with a shrug.

She rolls her eyes at this.

"Can we talk?" she tries again.

"Tris," I sigh.

"Please," she says, her voice shaking just the slightest bit. "I miss you."

I feel a pain in my chest, as I take in her words and the look on her face. I realize that all I want is to wrap my arms around her and hold her until things magically get better. I realize just how much I have missed her too, how much my body aches to be near hers. But I know that I cannot forgive myself for what I did to her. And I know that she shouldn't forgive me either.

I take a deep breath, as I force myself to tear my eyes away from her.

"I have to find my foster parent," I mutter.

"Tobias, wait."

Before she can say anything else, I turn and walk away. I feel her eyes on me, as I walk away, and I feel a stinging pain in my chest, but I force myself to ignore it. As much as it may hurt, I know that this is what is best for her. And I will always do what is best for her.

* * *

 **Tris POV**

* * *

I am not sure how long I am watching after Tobias when I feel someone nudge me. I look to my side and see Uriah looking back at me, seemingly concerned.

"You okay?" he asks.

I nod and turn to face him.

"Fine," I say.

He looks over his shoulder, most likely at Tobias, and sighs before he turns to look back at me again.

"Hey, don't worry about him," he says. "He'll come around."

"Yeah, maybe," I mutter, looking down at my shoes.

I look up, as Uriah places his hand on my shoulder and smiles just the slightest bit.

"He will," he says, letting his hand fall off my shoulder. "Chin up. Your parents are coming over."

I look up and see my parents walking toward us with Caleb trailing behind them. My mother forces a smile at Uriah, as she approaches us. She wraps her arm around my shoulders comfortingly and looks between us.

"Everything all right?" she asks.

"As all right as it can be," I mutter.

She nods a little before looking at Uriah and forcing another smile.

"Thank you again for coming with us, Uriah," she says. "I think it's so great that Tris has such supportive friends now."

"I wouldn't miss it," he says, smiling a bit as well.

My father takes a step closer to us, adjusting his jacket a bit.

"Are we ready to go in?" he asks carefully.

As I look around, I realize that every one of them is looking right at me. And just like that, the reality of this situation seems to settle on me all at once. I take a breath and shrug my shoulders.

"As ready as I'll ever be."

* * *

I knew that it would be hard to tell the truth. But I didn't fully realize just how difficult it would be to tell the truth with my friends and parents watching. My eyes lock on my mother's eyes, who looks like she is about to cry. I force myself to look away, knowing that I won't be able to say anymore if I keep watching how my words are affecting her.

"After he pushed me onto the ground," I say, trying not to let my voice shake, "he got on top of me, and he tried to pin me down."

I look up, my eyes finding Peter. He glares back at me with a look that tells me that he wishes he had been able to finish what he started. The look gives me chills, and I force myself to look away again.

"I fought against him, but he just kept pushing me back down," I continue. "And then, he reached for the zipper of my jeans."

I pause for a moment, as my voice starts shaking. I close my eyes to keep my eyes from tearing up, as I take a deep breath.

"I hit him to stop him, but then Eric got on the floor, too, and held me down so that Peter could... keep going." I shudder, as I can just imagine the look on my mother's face now. "And then, Eric said he heard something, so they got off of me and ran away."

There is silence for a brief moment, as the lawyer walks toward me to start questioning. In that brief moment, I chance to look up again. But this time, I don't look at my parents or at Peter and Eric. Instead, my eyes find Tobias.

He is staring back at me, seemingly pained. Time seems to stand still, as we stare back at each other. It makes me wish that I could just get up and run to him. But even if I could, I feel completely frozen where I sit.

I only force myself to look away, as the lawyer asks me her questions. I answer as best as I can, trying my hardest not to focus on the feeling of everyone's eyes on me.

"No further questions," the lawyer says, as she returns to her seat.

I feel nerves course through me, as Peter and Eric's lawyer stands up and walks toward me. I realize that he is a perfect fit for them- that he has the same stone-cold, uncaring look on his face, as he stares at me.

"Ms. Prior," he starts gruffly. "Are you aware that it is against the law to video tape or record another person without their consent in the state of Illinois?"

"I..." I croak before clearing my throat. "No, I wasn't aware."

"What was your reasoning for recording the defendants on your phone?"

"I wanted concrete proof," I say. "I wanted people to know that they're dangerous."

"And does this recording prove that the defendants are dangerous?"

"Objection!" my lawyer calls out.

"Let me rephrase," he says, smirking a bit. "Do you believe that your recording proves that the defendants are dangerous?"

"Yes," I say. "They tried to sexually assault me."

"Was there any sexual contact?" he asks shortly.

"I... I don't-"

"Did either of the defendants sexually assault you?"

"No, but they tried to-"

"So, we agree that neither of the defendants sexually assaulted you?"

"I..."

I look up just in time to see Tobias stand up from his seat and start walking out of the room. When he reaches the door, he looks back at me for a moment, and it is only then that I realize that my eyes are tearing up. He turns and walks out of the room, and I stare at the door, wishing that he would come back.

"Yes," I croak.

* * *

 **Tobias POV**

* * *

I am not sure how long I sit outside the courtroom before people start spilling out through the same door that I left through. I realize that they must be having a break. And I realize that that may mean the trial is coming to a close. I look down at my hands, as I wring my fingers. I can hear people milling around, but I know that I am not ready to interact with any of them.

"Hey."

I look up and see Uriah standing over me. He sits down next to me, and I look down at my hands again.

"What's going on?" he asks. "Why did you leave like that?"

I look up at him, and he stares back at me, seemingly concerned. I shake my head at him.

"What do you think?" I mutter.

"I don't know," he says. "Why don't you tell me?"

I roll my eyes and look away, but he doesn't let up.

"Look, I know that maybe this is hard for you," he says. "But if it's this hard for you, just imagine how hard it is for her."

"Uriah-"

"You need to be there for her, man." He nudges me, making me look up. "I know what went down between you two, but come on! She doesn't care about that. She was attacked, and she spent days in the hospital because of it. She's not okay, and you're the only person who can make things okay for her. She needs you. Man up, and go get her."

I watch wordlessly, as he stands up and looks around for a moment before looking back at me.

"She just went to the restroom," he says, more serious than I've ever seen him. "I suggest catching her on the way out before she has to go back into the courtroom, thinking you still don't care about her."

"I do care about her," I mutter.

"Prove it."

Before I can say anything else, he walks away. I let out a sigh, as I watch him disappear into the crowd of people. I am not sure what possesses me to do it, but I find myself standing up and walking toward the crowd before I can stop myself. I weave through the crowd and toward the hallway where I know the restrooms are.

I walk down the hallway, feeling more and more conflicted with each step that I take.

But as soon as I see her walking out of the women's restroom, I realize that it is too late to turn back. She stops in front of the door and stares back at me, as I simply stand there. I don't really have a plan, I am not really sure what to do. I'm not even sure what I want to do.

I feel frozen where I stand, as she takes a couple of steps closer to me, her eyes never leaving mine. And even through the tension of this moment, I can't help but realize that her eyes are even more beautiful than I remembered them to be. I have been avoiding them as much as I have been avoiding her, and now I find myself unable to look away.

"You left," she says softly.

"It wasn't something I wanted to watch," I mutter.

She takes another step closer to me, and it becomes just a little harder to breathe with her this close to me.

"Tobias," she nearly whispers. "I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry," I say. " _I'm_ sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry either."

"Yes, I should. I-"

"Tobias, please," she says shakily. "I don't care what happened. I know you didn't mean to hurt me. With everything that's going on... please, I need you."

"You shouldn't be so forgiving," I say.

"You shouldn't be so unforgiving of yourself," she returns.

I sigh and look down for a moment. I look up at her again, as she wraps her arms around my neck and looks up at me hopefully.

"Please, tell me we can be okay again," she croaks.

"Tris-"

"Please," she says again. "We can talk this out later. But right here and right now, I need you with me."

I stare back at her for a moment. I realize that I feel more at home than I've felt in a while with her arms around me like this, and that my hands are aching to hold her hips. I also realize that it is completely selfish of me. Of course, I want to be there for her. But more than that, I want her. I want her back so badly.

I bring my hands to her hips, and she sighs in relief and closes her eyes. I lower my forehead to rest on hers, and I take in the overwhelming sense of comfort that envelopes me as soon as we touch.

"I love you, Tobias," she whispers.

The comfort courses through me, and I pull her even closer to me, just wanting to feel all of her, before I respond.

"I love you, Tris," I whisper back.

She brings her hand to my cheek, and I press my head into her hand unconsciously, as I look back at her.

"Please don't leave me again."

Before I can respond, I hear a woman's voice, calling out Tris' name. Tris looks in the direction of the voice before looking back at me.

"That's my mom," she says. "We'd better go."

"Does that mean it's time to go back in?" I ask.

"I think so," she says.

"Are you ready for this?" I ask, stroking her hip lightly.

She lets out a shaky breath and nods.

"I'm ready."

* * *

I watch from my seat next to Amar and Lauren. It is time for the jury to state their decision, and I cannot ignore the nerves coursing through me, as I wait. After what they did to Tris, I find myself hoping that they get put away and tortured in jail by their cellmates. But I also know that they have a disgusting knack for getting themselves out of trouble.

I take a deep breath, as I look across the room at Tris. She looks over her shoulder at me, as if she sensed my eyes on her. We stare back at each other for a moment before they begin to speak.

"Has the jury reached a verdict?"

"We have, your honor," one of them says.

I hear Amar let out a deep breath next to me. I look at him, and he looks back at me just long enough for me to see how nervous he is before we both look forward again.

"We, the jury, find the defendant..."


	27. Chapter 27

**Holy shit you guys. I read the storyboard that I created for this story, and I actually hated it. Soo that means I'm completely improvising from here on out, which also means that I'm not sure how much longer this is going to be. I don't think it'll be a drastic difference, but just to let you know, my original estimate may be wrong!**

 **Thank you to Chickenlover313, goldensnitch1, Jojoboo90, jvoosen, Charms22, LUCY1925, Wrenlovesreading, It'sHardIKnow, FDFobsessed, Ane, Chanelx, Katt1848, 1991-old-school-kid, Naruisawesome, and Guest for your kind words! It is always appreciated!**

 **So remember when I said that shit hit the fan in my life? Well, recently the whole fan just fell out of the ceiling and shattered on the floor, so there's that. As I've said before, writing is one thing that brings me comfort when life gets really hard like this, so I am going to keep writing this, but I am sorry if I take some time to update.**

 **Anyhow, I hope you guys like this chapter. Please let me know what you think!**

* * *

 **Tris POV**

* * *

 _"Has the jury reached a verdict?"_

 _"We have, your honor," one of them says._

 _"We, the jury, find the defendant..."_

The juror looks around the room, as if he is unsure how people will react, before he finally gives the answer that everyone if waiting for. I don't realize how tensed up my entire body is until I feel my mother take my hand, and I suddenly become aware of the fact that I am afraid to even move.

"Not guilty."

I feel my heart drop. I hear people start to murmur. My mother tightens her grip on my hand. And for a moment, I can't breathe. I hear my mother say something to me, but nothing makes sense. It is as if my head is underwater. All I hear is warbled noises, but nothing means anything.

My mother says something again, more urgently this time. When I look at her, I can see the same urgency in her eyes. Though I can't make out the words, she keeps saying the same thing.

 _Breathe. Breathe. Breathe._

Finally, my head comes out of the water, and everything becomes real. I realize that she is telling me to breathe because I am about to hyperventilate. I grasp at her hand and try to bring my breathing back to normal. I feel Uriah put his hand on my shoulder, and I can only imagine the look of pity on his face.

His hand falls off my shoulder, as my mother pulls me into her. I accept the embrace, but I find myself unable to return it. As she holds me, I look over her shoulder at Peter and Eric, as they shake their lawyer's hand, all of them smiling. As I watch, Eric happens to look around, and our eyes meet. If I wasn't completely frozen before, I become frozen, as he looks back at me with a smirk for a moment before he returns his attention to the lawyer.

"Honey," my mother says, as she pulls back to look at me. "We're going to figure this out, okay?"

 _There's nothing to figure out,_ my mind says, although my lips are too stiff to say the words. I can only imagine what they are going to do to me now, and the thought makes my heart race. It is only a matter of time.

* * *

 **Tobias POV**

* * *

None of us speak, as Lauren and I follow Amar to his car. I wanted so badly to stay and be there for Tris, but he told us that we needed to leave right away. Although Lauren seemed just as confused as I was that we were leaving without Eric, neither of us said anything. Mostly because it seemed that it was a conversation Amar didn't want to have in the courthouse.

When we finally get to the car, I sit in the front seat, and Lauren lets herself into the backseat. We sit in silence, as Amar lets out a sigh and starts the car. Before he can start driving, Lauren leans forward a little and breaks the silence.

"Why isn't Eric coming home with us?" she asks, almost carefully.

"Let's just wait until we get home," Amar says tiredly. "We're going to have a family meeting."

"Okay," she says hesitantly, as she sits back again.

We sit in silence for the entire drive home to the point that it almost becomes torturous. Mostly because I spend the entire time thinking of Tris. I can't forget the look on her face when Peter and Eric were found not guilty. I remember how much I wanted to be there for her, but even if I was with her, I'm not sure what I could have said or done to make any of this better.

When we get to the house, Lauren and I exchange a look with each other, as we follow Amar into the house. Once we are all inside, Amar puts his keys away before walking to the living room. We follow him into the room and sit down on the couch, as he sits down on his armchair and lets out a sigh. He leans forward a little and looks at us.

"I think you both know that having Eric in this house has become too dangerous," he says before looking directly at me. "Four, I'm sorry that it's come to this, but I promise that I'm going to do what I can to protect you moving forward."

"What does that mean?" Lauren asks quietly.

"I had a feeling that Eric would be found not guilty," he says. "Which is why I asked him to give me his house key, and he will be staying at his friend's house briefly until we can figure this out."

"Which friend?" I ask. "Peter?"

"Yes," he nods. "My plan is to move him to a different home, but we do need a plan in place for the time that it will take to get him placed somewhere else. He'll only be able to stay with his friend for a couple of days."

"What about school?" Lauren asks. "When will he be back in school?"

"He won't be coming back to your school," he sighs. "He and his friend were both expelled over what happened."

Lauren looks at me, and I look back at her for a moment in understanding. I know that she must be thinking that I will be safer now that they won't be at school. But all I can think about is Tris. I wonder if she knows that they have been expelled. I wonder if that would make her feel safer.

"My point is," Amar says, looking between both of us, "I'm going to do whatever I can to protect both of you. That's a promise."

* * *

I let out a deep breath, as I knock on the front door. I wait for a moment, as I hear footsteps from inside the house. Finally, the door opens, and I find myself looking back at Hana, who smiles at me comfortingly.

"Hello, Tobias," she says warmly. "What are you doing here?"

"Hana," I nod at her. "I just wanted to see if I could talk to Uriah."

"Of course, come on in," she says, opening the door a little more.

I thank her, as I walk into the house. Just as I walk in, I look over and see Uriah coming down the stairs. He looks up at me, as he comes down.

"Hey," he says, as he comes to stand in front of me. "What are you doing here?"

I look over my shoulder, as Hana walks down the hallway into what appears to be the kitchen before I look back at Uriah.

"I need to ask you something," I say.

"What's up?" he asks, as he takes a step closer to me.

"Would I be able to stay here for a little while?"

"A little while, like..."

"A few days," I mutter. "Maybe more."

"I'd have to ask my mom," he says. "What's going on?"

"It's about Eric," I say. "My foster parent is trying to come up with some kind of plan to keep us apart until he gets sent to a different home, but he hasn't come up with anything yet. I thought it'd just be easiest if I got away from it."

"Makes sense to me," he says, nodding. "Come on, let's find out."

Before I can stop him, he starts walking down the hallway as well and into the kitchen. I follow after him, and when I get into the kitchen, I see Hana standing there with her back to us, as she washes the dishes in the sink.

"Mom?" Uriah calls. "Can we talk to you?"

She looks over her shoulder for a second before she puts down the dish she was washing and turns off the water. I watch, as she pulls off her washing gloves and turns to face us.

"What's going on?" she asks, as she crosses her arms over her chest.

"Well, Tobias and I were talking," Uriah says, gesturing toward me. "And it turns out, his family is having some problems."

"Yes," she sighs, looking at me sympathetically. "I heard about the trial."

"Well, the thing is," Uriah continues. "Tobias might need a place to stay until his foster brother gets moved to a different home-"

"And you told him he could stay here," she cuts in.

"No, I told him I would ask you!"

She smiles a little and shakes her head before she looks at me.

"You're welcome here any time, Tobias," she says. "Who knows? Maybe with a live-in tutor, Uriah will finally get an A."

"Thanks, Mom," he says, rolling his eyes.

"Thank you, Hana," I say. "I really appreciate it."

"Any time, Tobias," she says, as she reaches forward and rubs my shoulder lightly.

I can't help but smile a little, as I think again that Hana really is the closest thing that I have to a mother. And when she says "any time" I know that she means it.

* * *

 **Tris POV**

* * *

I sit on the couch with Caleb, as we watch TV together. We ended up compromising on some documentary. Caleb rarely watches TV, and when he does, it has to be something educational. Normally, we wouldn't even be watching this together, but my parents are out, and I overheard them asking Caleb to keep an eye on me, so he invited me to sit with him.

Right now, my parents have a meeting with my principal to discuss things. I am not entirely sure what they are hoping to accomplish, since Peter and Eric have been expelled already, but I am sure they will tell me once more is done.

I look at my phone, as I feel it go off. When I look at it, I see that it is a text from Christina.

"Bored?" Caleb asks without looking away from the screen.

"How could I be bored?" I mutter, as I put my phone down and look at the screen.

We sit in silence for a moment, as he watches the documentary, and I stare at the screen, willing myself to pay attention.

"What do you think Mom and Dad are talking to the principal about?" I ask.

I feel him look at me, so I turn to look at him as well.

"It could be any number of things," he says. "Especially after the trial."

"Maybe we shouldn't talk about the trial," I mutter.

"Maybe not," he says, looking back at the screen. "You wouldn't like to hear my thoughts on it anyway."

I look at him again, but he does not look at me this time.

"What are you talking about?" I ask.

He looks at me for a moment before shrugging and looking back at the screen.

"Well, I know that you were upset by the jury's decision, but it does make sense," he says.

"It makes sense?" I say slowly.

"Logically, it does," he says. "A real crime was never committed, so..."

He trails off, as he looks at me and sees the look that I am giving him. He sighs and looks away.

"I told you we shouldn't talk about this," he says.

"Well, congratulations," I mutter, as I stand up. "As always, you were right."

He says nothing, as I walk past him and toward the stairs. Just as I start to walk up the stairs, I hear a knock at the door. I let out a groan, as I go back down the stairs and walk toward the door. When I pull it open, I see Tobias standing there, already staring back at me.

Before he can say anything, I pull the door closed behind me and put my arms around his neck. He immediately returns the embrace, and we stand there in silence for a moment. I can't speak for him, but I realize that I just need a moment to fully enjoy the feeling of his arms around me, especially after the time we spent apart from each other.

"How are you feeling?" he murmurs into my ear.

"Let's talk about something else," I mutter.

I pull back enough so that I can see him, and he rests his forehead on mine.

"That's why I'm here," he says. "I think we have a lot to talk about."

"What if we don't?"

"What do you mean?" he asks.

"I mean, what if we just don't talk and instead we just-"

I am cut off, as he presses his lips to mine. I kiss him back instantly, and it is almost as if everything else disappears. For just one short moment, nothing else matters. Unfortunately, he pulls away just a moment later.

"Do that instead?" he finishes for me.

I can't help but smile a little, and I realize that it might be the first time that I've smiled since what happened with Peter and Eric.

"Exactly," I whisper.

"I missed you," he says.

Before I can say that I missed him too, he kisses me again, and I let him. I know that soon we will have to talk about everything, and I will have to face reality once again. But right now, I try to focus just on him. And hope that, with his help, things will one day get better.


	28. Chapter 28

**Hey. Wow. It's been a while. I wonder if anyone still cares about this story?**

 **If so, I have a legitimate excuse this time. I was in the hospital for a while so that's why this chapter took forever lol. And I wrote it pretty fast because I wanted to update so hopefully it's okay.**

 **If you sent me a message and I haven't responded, I promise I'm getting to it. I'm playing catch-up right now.**

 **Anyway, thank you to NoOneHasNoName, jvoosen, Chickenlover313, Charms22, It'sHardIKnow, LUCY1925, Wrenlovesreasing, FDFobsessed, Guest, Katt1848, goldensnitch1, 1991-Old-school-kid, Jojoboo90, and Naruisawesome for your kind words on the last chapter. Always appreciated!**

 **I hope you guys like this chapter. Please let me know what you think! :)**

* * *

 **Tobias POV**

* * *

Hana decided that I would stay in Uriah's room since she didn't have any spare rooms. Right now, I am going to be sleeping in Uriah's sleeping bag until she can figure something else out, and she asked Uriah to take some things out of his closet so that I would have room for my clothes. It's not exactly ideal, but it's better than the alternative.

I let out a sigh, as I hang up my last shirt in the closet. Once I'm finished, I turn around to take in the room again. The bed in the corner, the dresser near the door, and my sleeping bag across the room. It was much messier when they first showed me this room, but luckily Hana made Uriah clean up a little.

I turn, as I hear someone knocking on the door frame. When I turn, I see Zeke standing in the doorway staring back at me. I only met him briefly before this whole thing, but apparently he goes to the same high school as us. He is a grade above Uriah and I, but he is the same age as me since I got held back a year in elementary school.

"Hey, man," he says, smiling just the slightest bit. "You need anything?"

I look around briefly and shrug my shoulders at him.

"Don't think so," I reply.

"All right, cool." He stands there for a moment, as if he wants to say more. "You play any video games?"

I look back at him for a moment, wondering why he chose that of all the questions he could have asked me.

"I've never really had any," I answer.

"Well, we should play one," he says, seemingly more excited now. "You know, once you're settled and everything."

"Yeah, sure," I say.

He nods and stands there for one more moment before he waves briefly and walks away. I let out a sigh again. I realize that it must be awkward for him, having a stranger moving into his house. I guess video games are his attempt at bonding with me. I'd feel guilty about invading his space like this if I wasn't so relieved to be away from Eric.

"All right, Four," Amar says, as he walks into the room. "Looks like all your things are in the basement-"

"Not that I had much anyway," I mutter.

"Well, what you did have is in the basement," he says. I nod at him. "I really am sorry, Four, that it came to this."

I shrug my shoulders at him.

"I have been meaning to ask you," I say. "Do you think Lauren will be safe with him in the house?"

He lets out a sigh and looks down for a moment, as if he is thinking of something. I look back at him and wait until he finally looks at me again. He gestures for me to follow him, as he starts walking to the other side of the room. I start to wonder what he could possibly have to tell me now, as he sits down on Uriah's bed, and I sit next to him.

"I should have told you this a long time ago," he sighs. "There's a reason why Eric targeted you specifically."

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"I got Eric a couple of years before you," he says. "He was put in foster care because his mother was a junkie, and his stepfather abused him. Of course, his mother did nothing to stop it. He also had a couple of younger brothers, but at the time, I couldn't take all of them, so they were separated. They thought it'd be better if they were separated anyway."

"Why?" I ask.

"Eric has..." He sighs. "He has a very strong aversion to other men that pose a threat to him. He would often get into fights with his stepfather that he would always lose. The only reason he didn't seriously hurt his younger brothers is because they did whatever he told them to. And when they didn't, he would fight with them, too."

I look down at my lap for a moment, trying to absorb this, and I feel Amar look at me.

"I knew all this when I got him," he continues. "About a year later, I got Lauren, and everything was fine. He barely interacted with her. I thought that maybe he was making progress. So, when I got you two years later, I thought that maybe..."

He trails off and lets out a sigh. There is silence for a moment before he speaks again.

"I'm sorry, Four," he says again. "I should have known better."

I look up at him, as he stares back at me apologetically. I nod at him, and the words leave my mouth before I can think twice.

"You should've," I say.

He nods at this, seemingly not surprised by this response at all.

"I know," he says. "I hope that you can forgive me."

I look down at my lap again, and he sits there for just a moment before he stands up and starts walking toward the bedroom door.

"I'll let you know as soon as Eric is moved," he says before he leaves. "We'll be happy to have you home again."

I resist the urge to scoff at this, as he exits the room. That place was never my home, and if I wasn't sure of that, Amar's story just proved it. I was never safe there, and I was never meant to stay there. When I think about it, I realize that I have never had a place that felt like home.

But I have had a person who felt like home.

I stand up from the bed and walk out of the room and to the stairs. As I come down the stairs, I see Amar and Hana exchanging small talk in front of the front door. They both look at me, as I come down. I look at Hana, as I walk past them.

"I'll be back soon," I say.

"Be safe, dear," she says, as I walk through the front door.

I can't help but smile a little, as I start walking down the street. Hana has always been the closest thing that I have to a mother. And I am grateful that she opened her home to me.

When I finally reach the house, I knock on the front door and wait, as I hear movement inside the house. Eventually, the door opens, and I find myself staring back at the stormy blue eyes that I have been thinking of since I last saw her.

"Tobias," Tris says lightly, as she closes the door behind her and wraps her arms around my neck.

I return the embrace automatically, and I bury my face in her hair. This is definitely what home feels like.

She pulls back to look at me, her arms still around me.

"Are you all moved in?" she asks.

"I am," I reply.

Her arms fall from around my neck slowly, as I move to sit on the front step. She sits down next to me and looks at me expectantly. When I say nothing, she seems to decide to speak instead.

"Did you hear about the new anti-bullying policy at school? The principal created that after my parents raised hell about what's been going on," she says. I find myself unable to respond, and she must sense it since she continues. "They're still deciding if I can go back to school or not."

"Do you want to?" I ask. "Go back to school, I mean."

"Of course," she says. "They started me with a therapist, and I've been talking about it a lot with her."

I let out a sigh, as she continues to stare at me. I hate that all of this happened to her just because she befriended me, but I know that I cannot say that to her. She would just deny it.

"Tobias, what's wrong?" she asks.

I look up at her briefly before I look down at my lap again.

"I've been thinking about you a lot," I mutter.

She pushes herself a little closer to me and takes my hand.

"I've been thinking about you, too," she says quietly. "I miss you."

"I think of you, and then I think about what happened-"

"Tobias-"

"Just let me say it," I cut in. She lets out a sigh, but she doesn't say anything else. "I'm sorry that I hurt you. It's the one thing I never wanted to do, and I lost myself and did it. And after I hit you, I saw this fear in your eyes. I couldn't forgive myself."

There is silence for a moment, but I feel her eyes on me the entire time. Eventually, she brings her hand to my cheek and guides me to look at her, and I see a pained look in her eyes.

"You're not your father, Tobias," she says. "I'm not afraid of you."

"Tris-"

"That's not you," she continues, stroking my cheek lightly with her thumb. "I know you."

"I didn't mean to hurt you," I say quietly, though it seems that I am saying it to myself more than her.

"No, you didn't," she says, smiling just the slightest bit. "You wouldn't hurt me."

Before I can say anything else, she leans into me and presses her lips to mine. I know that I probably should stop her, that I should say more, but I don't. Instead, I let the feeling of her lips on mine overpower all of my thoughts for a moment.

When she pulls away, we look back at each other for a moment. I start to feel anger course through me again. As I look at her, all I can think about is everything that they put her through. All the ways that they hurt her.

"What?" she nearly whispers.

"I promise you, they're going to pay for what they did to you," I say.

She stares back at me, seemingly confused, before she shakes her head.

"Tobias..." she trails off.

"I promise you," I say again. "I'm going to take care of this. I'm going to take care of you."


	29. Chapter 29

**Omg I haven't updated in forever, and I'm so sorry. Hopefully you guys still want an ending to this story.**

 **This chapter is a little short because to be honest, so much has been happening lately, and I've lost a lot of motivation, but I'm working really hard to get it back, so I'm also gonna try really hard to finish this story sooner rather than later.**

 **Anyway, happy holidays everyone, and hopefully you guys like this chapter/still care about this story!**

* * *

 **Tris POV**

* * *

When Christina said that she wanted to visit me over the weekend, I guess I should have expected that she wanted to gossip more than anything. We both sit together on my bed, as she goes on and on. First, she told me about a date that her and Will went on. Now, she is talking about how Myra and Edward broke up. I sit there, trying to listen to her, but I can barely focus.

My mind keeps returning to my last conversation with Tobias. I keep thinking about how he said that Peter and Eric are going to pay for what they did. I told him not to do anything that he would regret, and I can only hope that he listens. I don't know how I would handle it if something happened to him.

"What else?" Christina asks herself once she finishes talking about Myra and Edward.

"I'm guessing people have been talking about me?" I venture.

She looks at me, seemingly a little surprised by my comment. She shrugs, and her eyes flit away for a moment before she looks at me again.

"I wasn't gonna say anything," she says.

"It's okay," I say. "We can talk about it."

"Okay," she says, still looking a little unsure. "Well, yeah, people have been talking about it a lot. I mean, the two biggest bullies in the school got expelled, and now, all of a sudden, there's a no bullying rule. And you're new enough that not everyone really knew you before this all happened, so it's like everyone's trying to put the pieces together themselves. I set them straight when I can."

"Is the no bullying rule actually working?" I ask.

"Seems like it," she shrugs. "I don't even think they needed it, though. With Peter and Eric gone, their little minions just wander around like kicked puppies. They don't know what to do without them."

I pause for a moment to consider this. I lean back on the headboard behind me, as Christina readjusts herself to lay on her side.

"Are people saying anything specific about me?" I ask quietly.

"I think they just feel bad, mostly," she says. "I mean, everyone knows that Peter and Eric are scumbags, so it's not like people think you're making it up. Mostly everyone was pretty pissed that they got off with no punishment."

"Mostly everyone?"

She sighs and runs a hand through her hair before resting her head on her hand.

"You know how people are," she says. "There's always going to be a few stray idiots who think..."

"Who think it's my fault?" I finish, since she doesn't seem to want to say it.

"You have so many people on your side," she says. "Just focus on that."

"Yeah." I let out a sigh. "I guess you're right."

* * *

 **Tobias POV**

* * *

Amar seems to think that visiting frequently will erase all of the problems between us. He has been coming over to see me just about everyday since I moved out. Of course, he usually just ends up sitting with Hana in the kitchen, but he still encourages me to come and sit with them every time.

Now, I can hear them talking at the kitchen table, as I stay hidden in mine and Uriah's room. Since moving in, Hana acquired an air mattress so that I wouldn't have to sleep in a sleeping bag on Uriah's floor. Even though it isn't the best situation, I still appreciate how hard she is working to make this place feel like home for me.

I sit down on the edge of the air mattress to put my shoes on. Once I'm done, I get up and start for the stairs. I listen to Amar and Hana making small talk in the kitchen, as I walk downstairs. Hana seems to be in the middle of explaining a recipe to Amar, so I know that I have some time. With that in mind, I walk toward the kitchen until they are in view through the doorway. Hana looks up at me, making Amar look over his shoulder at me as well, and she pauses as if to let me speak.

"I'm heading out," I tell her. "I'll be back soon."

"Are you sure you don't want to join us?" Amar tries again.

"Can't," I mutter. "Maybe next time."

"Be safe, dear," Hana says.

I cannot tell if it is reality or just my paranoia, but she seems to be giving me a knowing look. The kind that says that she knows exactly what I am up to. I simply nod back at her, trying to ignore it, before I turn and head for the front door. Luckily, Uriah is out, and Zeke is in his room, so I won't have to worry about explaining myself to them as well.

Once I close the door behind me, I start walking across the street. I look over my shoulder once to make sure Amar hasn't decided to follow me, as I go. Once I reach the house, I knock on the door, knowing that I won't have to worry about facing Eric straight away; he always avoids answering the door. Or anything that requires any kind of effort.

The door swings open, and I find myself face-to-face with Lauren, who is clearly surprised to see me. She takes a step outside and slightly closes the door behind her.

"What are you doing?" she asks, a warning tone already in her voice.

"I have something for Eric," I mutter, as I reach into my pocket.

"Four, whatever you're about to do-"

"Just give it to him," I say, as I pull a folded-up paper out of my pocket and hold it out for her. "That's all I'm asking."

She looks at me for a moment before looking down at the paper.

"Why do I feel like whatever this is is a huge mistake?" she says.

"It doesn't concern you," I say. "Nothing about this is going to affect you. Just hand it to him, and you're done."

She looks back up at me, clearly concerned. I can tell from the look in her eyes that she is worried. But I am her foster brother, and she is my foster sister. We have always cared about each other, but never to the point that we would get in each other's way. She lets out a sigh, as she takes the paper out of my hand and shakes her head.

"Just be careful, Four," she mutters, as she steps back inside.

Without waiting for me to say anything back- or maybe she knows that I don't need to respond- she closes the door, and leaves me standing there alone. I take a deep breath before I turn and start walking to my next destination.

I know that what I am about to do is in no way a mistake. It is the only thing that will make all of this right, and I am the only one that can do it.

When I reach the downtown area, I can feel adrenaline start to trickle through me, as the realization of what is about to happen starts to settle in me. The longer that I walk, the more the adrenaline grows inside me.

I look around to make sure nobody is watching me before I slip into the alleyway. I walk further in, toward a dumpster in the middle of the alley. I check to make sure no one is behind it before I settle behind the dumpster and lean back against the brick wall so that I am not visible to anyone walking by.

I realize now that all I can do is wait. And as I wait, I can feel my heart beating hard in my chest with anticipation.

I feel my phone go off in my pocket. I take it out of my pocket and look at my phone only to see that I have a text from Tris, asking if I am busy.

 _I'm busy right now,_ I text back. _But it won't take long._

I put my phone back in my pocket and take a deep breath. Those bastards are finally going to get what they deserve.


	30. Chapter 30

**Hey, y'all. I'm sorry once again about taking forever to update. As usual, my life has kinda been a mess, but I'm working really hard to clean it up.**

 **Anyway, BIG NEWS - I've updated the storyboard for this story, and there are only going to be either 2 or 3 chapters after this. The other good news is that I actually have an idea for another story I want to do after this that I'm pretty excited about, so hopefully people still care lol!**

 **Big thank you to jvoosen, Charms22, It'sHardIKnow, ManhattanSky, goldensnitch1, Wrenlovesreading, 1991-Old-school-kid, FDFobsessed, Jojoboo90, Katt1848, Not So Cliche, and Guest for your kind words on the last chapter. It is always appreciated!**

 **Also FYI there is an M-rated scene in this chapter. I'm sure you'll know when it's coming, so if you're not comfortable, please feel free to skip it!**

 **I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think :)**

* * *

 **Tris POV**

* * *

 _Go to your room._

I stare at the text from Tobias on my phone, confused. He told me that he was on his way over, but then he texted instructing me to go to my room. And then, I realize why he would say that. And just as it clicks in my mind, I hear a tapping sound from my window. I look up from my phone and see Tobias clutching onto the tree next to me window, just like he was last time he snuck into my room, with one hand reaching for the window. But that is not what makes me drop my phone and run for the window. What makes me run for him are the bruises and blood on his face and arms.

I pull open the window and grab him, using whatever strength I have to help pull him inside. Once he is finally in, he stops for a moment to bring his hands to his knees and take a deep breath.

"Tobias!" I say, trying to keep my voice low despite my panic. "What is going on? What happened to you?"

He stands up again, as straight as he can, and looks down at me.

"I couldn't go back to Hana's house like this," he mutters. "I need to clean myself up."

"You need to tell me what happened," I retort.

"I will," he sighs. "I'd like to get the blood off me first."

I roll my eyes, though every part of my mind is worried and coming up with the worst possible scenarios. Still, I know that he is stubborn, and he won't say anything until he has cleaned himself up. I look into the hallway to make sure Caleb isn't upstairs before I rush into the bathroom. I open the closet and pull out our first aid kit and a towel, which I wet with warm water before rushing back into my room and closing the door behind me. When I turn around, Tobias reaches for the towel, but I pull away from him.

"Sit."

This time, he rolls his eyes, but he obliges. He sits down on my bed, and I sit next to him. I set the first aid kit down before looking up at him, only to find that he was already staring back at me.

"I'm just going to wipe the blood off first," I say, as I bring the towel to his face.

He nods and closes his eyes. I can tell, as I wipe away the blood, that he is in pain. Luckily, there isn't too much, so he doesn't need to be in pain for too long. When I am done, I look down and realize that there is blood on his knuckles as well, and I let out a pained sigh. He opens his eyes and looks at me, as I take one of my hands in his and look at it for a moment before I start wiping the blood away.

"Tell me what happened," I say as steadily as I can.

He hesitates for a moment, and I hear him let out a breath before he speaks.

"I told you I would make them pay," he says quietly.

I look up at him, and he stares back at me. I feel my heart drop, as the realization hits me.

"You attacked them?"

"I fought them," he mutters. "I made sure they knew what would happen if they tried to hurt you again."

"Tobias..."

"I'm not proud of it," he says, looking down at his hand in mine. "It's something that I never wanted to do. It was like a nightmare."

He looks up at me, and it is only then that I realize that I am holding my breath.

"But love makes you do crazy things."

I look down, at a loss for words, but he moves closer to me, making me look up.

"They know now," he says. "They know that they can't hurt you. And that's all that matters to me."

"Tobias, you didn't have to-"

"I did," he cuts in. "All this time, I was afraid of turning into my father. But my father preyed on the innocent, like me and my mother. I did what I did to protect you. To stop them from hurting you or anyone else again."

"You're nothing like your father," I finish for him. He smiles just the slightest bit, as I bring my hand to his cheek. "You're so brave, and he was just a coward."

He nods a bit, his eyes never leaving mine. Still without breaking eye contact, I wrap my arms around his neck, and he brings his hand to my waist.

"Promise me you won't put yourself in danger again," I say. "I can't lose you."

"You're not gonna lose me," he says, stroking my waist lightly. "I promise."

Before I can say anything else, he closes the space between us by pressing his lips to mine, and I kiss him back without hesitation. I move as close to him as I can, and he tightens his arm around me. We kiss as if we haven't kissed in years, but I wouldn't complain. We only break the kiss when we are both breathless and in need of air. I open my eyes and look back at him, and I feel a chill run through me when I see the way that he is looking at me.

"I would do anything for you," he says. "I love you."

"I love you so much, Tobias," I whisper back.

He stares at me for a moment, and I find it hard to breathe, as I realize that I have seen this look in his eyes before.

"Where are your parents?" he asks.

"They're out. My brother is downstairs, but he's not gonna bother me in here." He nods a little and starts to lean into me again, but I stop him. "Maybe I should finish taking care of you first."

"All the blood is gone," he says. "Who cares about some cuts and scrapes?"

"I do," I say, rolling my eyes.

"I'm fine," he says, smirking just a bit. "All I want right now is you."

Before I can say anything else, he kisses me again, as he brings his hand to my cheek. I let out a sigh of relief into his mouth. Lately, with everything going on, our relationship has felt so strained. I was worried that we would never have a moment like this again. Yet here we are, so close to each other, so comfortable in each other's arms, and so connected. He breaks the kiss, his forehead still resting on mine. I keep my eyes closed, appreciating the feeling of having him so close to me, and I can feel his eyes on me.

I keep my eyes closed, as he briefly kisses my lips again before he lowers his head and brings his lips to my neck. I let out a soft moan, as he leaves a trail of kisses on the sensitive skin on my neck. He starts to move me back so that he is hovering on top of me, and I gladly let him. When I feel my head touch my pillow, I open my eyes just in time for him to lift his head and look back at me.

"Is this okay?" he whispers huskily.

"Yeah," I whisper back. "More than okay."

He smiles a bit, as I reach for the hem of his shirt. Without saying anything, he reaches for the hem as well and pulls his shirt over his head and drops it on the floor. I watch him, mesmerized. It's been some time since we've been in a situation like this. And I actually forgot how beautiful his body is and how much it makes the desire in me stir. He smirks a little, and I realize that he can probably see the desire in my eyes. He holds out his hands for me.

"Come here," he says.

I take his hands and let him pull me up. Once I am sitting up, I pull my own shirt over my head and drop it on the floor next to his before I lay back down, never breaking eye contact with him. He lowers himself again and brings his lips to mine again, and this time, our hands move freely over each other's bodies, as if we are learning each other's figures for the first time all over again.

He trails his lips from mine to my jaw, my neck, and down to my chest. I arch my back, as he reaches under me to unclasp my bra. I take a deep, shaky breath, as he pulls my bra off. I watch him, as he cups one of my breasts in his hand and looks up at me. He only looks at me for a moment before he brings his lips to my other breast and draws the peak into his mouth. I shudder, as he sucks on it lightly. He has never done this before, but I definitely don't want to stop him.

I weave my fingers into his hair, as my breathing picks up. He starts slowly kissing his way down my body again, and I breathe in anticipation. I look down just as he starts pulling my pants and underwear off my legs in one movement. His eyes meet mine, as he kisses the inside of my thigh. But my eyes close and a gasp escapes my mouth, as his lips reach my center. His tongue moves over me teasingly slow, and my hips start to move with his tongue unintentionally. I put my hand over my mouth so that the moans escaping my mouth won't be loud enough for my brother to hear downstairs.

Just as I start to feel heat rushing through my body, he slips one of his fingers inside me. The combination of that and his tongue become too much. I groan into my hand and clutch onto the sheets with my other hand, as white hot pleasure courses through me. I drop my hand and let my head fall to the side, as I try to bring my breathing back to normal. I feel him crawling on top of me, and I only open my eyes when I feel him kiss my neck lightly.

Neither of us say anything, as he leans down to kiss me again. I taste myself on his lips for the first time, and it is such a foreign concept that I don't know how to react. But I know that I don't want to stop.

He breaks the kiss and looks down at me.

"Do you still have..." he trails off.

I nod at him before I reach for my bedside table. I open the top drawer and reach in until my hand reaches the protection that I keep hidden at the bottom of the drawer. I settle beneath him again and start to open it, as he pulls off his pants and boxers. When he settles on top of me again, I keep my eyes locked on his, as I reach down and take his length in my hand. He shudders a little, as I stroke him slowly for a moment before I put the condom on him.

He brings his lips to mine and kisses me deeply. I moan into his mouth, as he moves inside me, stretching me in a way that I've been craving since the last time we were together. He breaks the kiss to watch me, as he moves in and out of me, slowly at first. My breathing picks up, as he also starts moving faster gradually. I bring my hands to his back and let my nails skim over his skin, and he groans.

"Tobias," I moan. "I missed you."

"I missed you, too," he says, his voice deep with desire.

I tilt my head back and close my eyes, which prompts him to lower his head and suck on the sensitive spot on my neck. At the same time, he pushes my leg up a bit, driving him further inside me, and I bite my lip to keep myself from making too much noise.

I want to tell him how good it feels, how much I've missed doing this with him, how much I love him. But instead, all that comes out is a desperate moan that he seems to understand as an instruction to keep going. Before I can make sense of everything I'm feeling, my body starts to tighten up again, and I gasp out, as I dig my nails into his back. He groans, and I feel his body shudder at the same time that mine does. Finally, our bodies relax, and I can tell that he is trying hard not to collapse on top of me. I keep my eyes closed, trying to bring my breathing back to normal, as he pulls out of me and moves to the edge of the bed. Eventually, he comes to lay down next to me, and it is only then that I open my eyes and look back at him.

He wraps his arm around me and moves closer to me so that our faces are only inches apart.

"I love you," I say again.

"I love you, Tris," he says. "I promise things are going to be better from now on."

"I believe you. But please, don't do anything else to put yourself in danger. I want you to be there with me when things get better."

"I'll be there," he says before kissing my forehead briefly. "I promise."

I can't help but smile a little, as we look back at each other.

"Can I ask you something?" I say. He makes a noise in response. "Why did you do so many new things today?"

He looks at me for a moment, and I can tell that the question embarrassed him, but I'm not sure why until he answers.

"Uriah and Zeke talk about... stuff like this a lot," he says slowly.

"So you're teaching Uriah physics, and he's teaching you-"

"Don't finish that sentence," he cuts in.

I can't help but laugh, and he smiles a little in response.

"Well, whatever you're doing," I whisper, as I lean into him. "Keep doing it."

* * *

 **Tobias POV**

* * *

"So, listen," Uriah says, as we approach the front door. "How about you just give me twenty minutes to settle in, and then we can do as much tutoring shit as you want?"

I stop in front of the front door and turn to face him.

"Because if I give you twenty minutes, you'll get lazy, and it'll turn into the whole night."

"No, it won't!"

"You get ten minutes," I say, turning back around to open the door. "Take it or leave it."

"Fine," he sighs. "Ten minutes."

"I'll be in the kitchen," I say, as I head for the kitchen, and he starts going upstairs to our room.

As I walk toward the kitchen, I realize that I can hear voices. And when I reach the kitchen, I see Amar sitting at the table and Hana standing with her back against the counter and her arms crossed over her chest. They both look up, as I walk in, and I can tell that I interrupted something important.

"Tobias," Amar says. "I came to talk to you."

"About what?" I ask, as I sit down and drop my bookbag on the floor next to me.

"I just want you to know that I found a new home for Eric," he says. "He'll be leaving our house in two weeks. And of course, at that point, you will be able to move back in."

"I see," I mutter.

I glance at Hana only to see that she is staring at me sympathetically. I look down at the table, as I try to process this. Throughout all of this, I haven't been able to forgive Amar for putting me in the situation that he did. In fact, my resentment for him grew every time he came here and tried to talk to me as if everything was fine. But I also know that it doesn't matter how I feel about this. I am not going to be eighteen for another three months. I have to stay with him until then.

"How does that sound?" he asks.

"Fine," I mutter. "That's fine."

He nods and lets out a sigh.

"Tobias, I-"

"You should probably go," I say. "I'm going to be tutoring Uriah in here in a few minutes."

He looks at me for a moment before he nods again and starts to stand up.

"Right." He nods at Hana before looking at me again. "I'll be back soon."

I don't bother to reply, as he starts to walk out of the kitchen. Before he even gets through the doorway, he turns and looks at me again.

"By the way, Eric had some cuts and bruises on him when he came home the other day," he says, eyeing my bruises. "Do you know anything about that?"

"I wouldn't know," I say. "I haven't seen him."

I can tell that he knows that I'm lying. But he doesn't say anything else. He simply nods and continues on his way out. I look down at my hands, as I listen to his footsteps getting quieter and quieter. In fact, I can't even bring myself to look up until I hear the front door close. When I do, Hana is already looking back at me, sympathy still apparent on her face.

"Do you want to talk?" she asks.

"I'm fine," I mutter. "Thank you."

She nods before she turns back around and turns on the sink to start washing the dishes. I pull some of my books out of my bookbag and lay them out in front of me on the table. Just as I have laid everything out, I hear Uriah coming down the stairs.

"What did I tell you?" he says, as he sits in the chair where Amar was sitting before. "Ten minutes, and now I'm ready to go."

I roll my eyes, as he takes out his own books. Hana stays in the kitchen the entire time, as we start working on his assignments and study materials. For the most part, she focuses on the dinner that she is making, but every now and then, I notice her look over her shoulder at us. I guess that she wants to make sure that this is actually helping Uriah, but his improving grades are proof of that already.

"I really feel like I'm gonna get an A on this," Uriah says, grinning at me. "Thanks to you, brainiac!"

"You got it, Uriah," I say, as he starts putting his books together.

"Thanks, man," he says. "Hey, me and Zeke are gonna play some basketball after dinner. You in?"

"Yeah, why not?" I say, as I pull out my own homework.

He grins again and claps his hand against my shoulder before he picks up his things and walks out of the room. I start to work on my own homework, but just as I hear Uriah going up the stairs, Hana sits down in the chair across from me. I look up at her, and she smiles just the slightest bit.

"You've really done wonders for him," she says.

"He's smart," I reply. "He just needed some guidance."

She nods and looks down at her hands for a moment before she looks back up at me.

"I think you're great together," she continues. "I love seeing you two together, and I know that Zeke has taken a liking to you, too."

I nod at her, unsure of where she is going with this.

"I was just thinking about what Amar said before," she says. "I'd really like to know what you're thinking."

"About going back?" I ask. She nods in response. "It's not ideal, but I don't really have a choice."

"You do have a choice," she says. "I've been thinking that maybe you should stay here with us."

"But legally, I don't think-"

"Legally," she cuts in, "it would be okay. You could stay here if I adopted you."

I stare at her for a moment, as if she will tell me that she is just joking if I stare at her long enough. But after a few moments have passed, I realize that she isn't joking. That this is a real possibility.

"You don't have to answer right now," she says, smiling a little. "I just want you to know that we're here for you. And we would love to have you in our family."


End file.
